Gustav Nyquist To Receive Hearing For Slash On Jared Spurgeon
By Nick Seguin
7 years ago
Gustav Nyquist will receive an in-person hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his high stick to the face of Jared Spurgeon. This allows for a suspension of six games or more.
Late in the first period of the Red Wings Sunday afternoon game against the Minnesota Wild, Gustav Nyquist was cross checked to the ice by Jared Spurgeon in a puck battle along the boards in the Minnesota zone. In a moment of frustration, Nyquist turned to Spurgeon and high sticked him in the face, just below his left eye.
It was a vicious slash, which drew blood and sent Spurgeon back to the dressing room. Nyquist served a four minute penalty for it.
Here’s the full video of the incident:
It is clearly an intentional and retaliatory move. Nyquist looked right at Spurgeon and jammed his stick in his face. In an in-game interview in the second period, Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill would defend his player, saying it was not done with intent and Nyquist served his four minutes so we should all move on. Nyquist also defended himself in a post-game interview.
They can say there was no intent to injure all they want, but Nyquist’s stick didn’t get caught anywhere. Clearly, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety seems to think so as well.
This was a dangerous and reckless move from a player whose demeanor on the ice is generally calm. Nyquist normally plays a clean brand of hockey and stays out of the rough stuff. So far this season, he’s only served 14 penalty minutes. This lashing out was likely the result of a lot of frustration that’s been building up due to the Wings poor play and recent losing skid. Not to mention the exhaustion from back-to-back afternoon games.
Still, it’s no excuse. Nyquist has to keep his emotions in check and be responsible with his stick. Based on Chris Johnston’s tweet, sounds like he’ll be getting something lengthy from the league, which is totally acceptable. He may not be a repeat offender, but this play could have easily done irreparable damage to Jared Spurgeon’s eye and ended his career. 6+ games is okay in my books. We’ll see what the league thinks.
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