The NHL’s Department of Player Safety decided to suspend Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele for four games. This comes after a “vicious” hit on Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans. The decision was made over a phone hearing on Thursday where they explained that Scheifele’s play was a charging penalty due to the distance traveled to hit his opponent.
The coach of Winnipeg Paul Maurice said it was a “heavy, heavy’ hit, but not dirty”. However, the NHL said he was “moving with excessive momentum gained from traveling a considerable distance, finishes his check violently and with unwarranted force into Evans,”. Furthermore, they said the video shows Sheifele’s intention was to not make a play on the puck.
Evans will be out indefinitely with a concussion but was not hospitalized according to head coach Dominique Ducharme of the Canadiens. He considered the hit to be “vicious” and “useless” as his team is now down a player. The Canadiens ended up winning that Game 1, 5-3 on Wednesday and are set to play Game 2 tonight.
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