Kane’s turn to get hit

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This article was published 09/12/2014 (3950 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The hammer of justice has come down hard on Winnipeg Jets winger Evander Kane.

The National Hockey League’s department of player safety Monday suspended Kane for two games for his hit from behind on Anaheim Ducks defenceman Clayton Stoner in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss.

Kane was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct. The league’s suspension means he will forfeit $56,451.62 in salary, under terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. That money will go directly to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

The video ruling of the penalty and suspension states Kane “…crashes into Stoner from behind, driving him dangerously into the glass.”

The ruling also indicates Kane saw Stoner’s number throughout the play and the Ducks defenceman didn’t deviate from his path or make a sudden movement just prior to or at the moment of contact to make himself vulnerable.

As a result…

“The onus is entirely on Kane to avoid this check completely or, at the very least, minimize contact,” the video states. “Kane does neither. Instead, having tracked Stoner for considerable time and significant distance, Kane hits Stoner directly from behind driving forcefully into him and causing him to crash face first into the glass.”

Kane was not on the ice for the Jets practice at the MTS Centre Monday morning as the workout coincided with his phone chat with the department of player safety.

Prior to the ruling coach Paul Maurice did not expect Kane to be suspended.

“I don’t expect to lose him at all,” said Maurice. “I think it’s a five-minute (major)… that’s the right call. It’s a hit on the numbers. There was a penalty for it, it was an expensive penalty in a 3-2 game. For me that’s the right call and we move on.

“Clearly, I’m not making the final call here.”

This is Kane’s first suspension and fine in his six-year NHL career, but the second for the Jets in 10 days after Adam Lowry sat for one game following his hit on Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres.

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“There is a difference,” said Maurice, in comparing the two hits. “One is a hitting-from-behind penalty, one is a boarding penalty. Different original positioning… you can argue all those points, I don’t think that’s going to matter. But they’re different calls and I think that does matter.”

T.J. Galiardi, who hasn’t dressed for a game since a Nov. 13 date in Carolina, will likely be activated in Kane’s place, although the Jets did call up Patrice Cormier from St. John’s Monday evening. Cormier has appeared in 17 games with the IceCaps, scoring four goals and adding six assists.

“We’ve had this conversation… it’s a tough spot to be,” said Maurice of Galiardi’s fight to return to the lineup. “I really like the way our team is playing. I like, especially in Western Conference games, having Anthony (Peluso) and Chris (Thorburn) in the lineup at the same time. It takes some pressure off Mark Stuart in certain areas.

“And Matt Halischuk has come in and just played great for us — great intensity, great on the bench. So, it’s tough. There’s competition there for that job. I normally don’t like to leave a guy out that long, but when I sit down and put the lineup on paper and I take a look at the other team’s lineup… that’s why those decisions have been made.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait