Carcillo suspended for six games for cross-check on Jet

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This article was published 20/01/2015 (3944 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE NHL has taken a dim view of the cross-check that caused injury to Winnipeg Jets left-winger Mathieu Perreault, suspending Chicago Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo for six games.

The league’s department of player safety announced the sanction Monday afternoon after Carcillo had his hearing via phone with league officials. Carcillo had waived his right to an in-person hearing.

It’s Carcillo’s ninth suspension. This one costs him more than $40,000 in salary.

Perreault has already missed one game due to an injury to his left arm or back. The Jets rarely reveal details of injuries and sometimes mislead fans about those situations. On the weekend, one RDS report said Perreault had no broken bones from this incident and another from Sportsnet suggested he had a torn ligament in his arm.

Jets coach Paul Maurice has only said he had no “expectation” Perreault would play Wednesday against Columbus.

The league’s decision, released with a video explanation, pointed out Perreault was “unsuspecting” in this incident, because the whistle had been blown when he touched the puck in the corner, with just more than nine seconds left in the second period.

Perreault was being called for a slashing penalty, having knocked the stick out of Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith’s hands.

But Carcillo zoomed in on the Jets’ player and gave him a forceful blow with his stick.

In the video explaining the league’s decision, Patrick Burke of the department of player safety said:

“Though always illegal, cross-checking is a fairly common infraction that almost always is sufficiently punished by a penalty on the ice. However, in this case, several factors combine to cause this cross-check to merit supplemental discipline.

“First, this is not a hockey play in the sense that it has nothing to do with the puck and the blow was delivered after the whistle had blown the play dead.”

This is a sharp rebuke for Carcillo, who was quoted Saturday as saying he thought the check was a “hockey play.”

‘…This is not a hockey play in the sense that it has nothing to do with the puck’

— NHL spokesman Patrick Burke

The video continued: “Second, because the whistle has blown, Perreault has no reason to expect to be hit in any way and therefore cannot protect himself. He visibly relaxes upon hearing the whistle.

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“Third, coming up from behind the unaware Perreault, Carcillo is entirely in control of what happens. After hearing the whistle, Carcillo chooses to deliver a forceful cross-check that strikes Perreault in an unprotected spot on his arm, below the shoulder pad and above the elbow pad.

“Finally, and in heightened significance in this case, Carcillo has been suspended or fined 11 previous times during his nine-season NHL career.”

Carcillo missed Sunday’s game vs. Dallas but will be eligible to play when the Blackhawks visit Winnipeg, Feb. 6.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

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