The Department of Player Safety announced this morning that Nurse will have a hearing at some point this afternoon regarding his headbutt. It was not specified if it would be in person or over the phone so suspension length is unconfirmed currently. Typically, an in person/video call allows the DOPS to suspend for more than 5 games, while a phone hearing is 5 games or less. Given it's the playoffs, it should be less than 5 games as we all know suspensions are essentially haved in the playoffs. It would not be surprising to see Nurse suspended for the remaining 2 games of the Oilers first round series against the Kings. That would be a huge blow to the Oilers given Nurse's presence on the blue line.
Nurse has only been suspended once in his career, back in 2016 for being the instigator in a fight with Roman Polak. We should know in the next couple hours how long the Oilers will be without Nurse, but regardless of how many games, it leaves a huge hole to fill on the blue line.
POLL | ||
11 MAI | 578 ANSWERS Darnell Nurse headbutts Phillip Danault, Player Safety responds; huge loss for the Oilers down 3-2 How many games will Nurse get for his headbutt on Danault? | ||
1 | 215 | 37.2 % |
2 | 145 | 25.1 % |
3 | 113 | 19.6 % |
Won't matter, the Kings will finish the Oilers | 105 | 18.2 % |
List of polls |