Sam Bennett nails John Carlson with a blindside hit; suspension incoming?
On Tuesday, Kyle Clifford was suspended by Player Safety for one game for his blindside hit on Ross Colton the night before. Colton didn't even leave the bench and played the rest of the game. Not only was Clifford suspended one game but he was given a 5 minute major and game misconduct.
Late in Tuesday's game between the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals, Sam Bennett caught Caps defender John Carlson with a blindside hit that appeared to be straight shoulder to head contact. There was no call on the play and Carlson did not return after being rocked. In fact, he went right to the room - didn't even sit on the bench and talk to the trainer.
Player Safety used previous suspensions and fines as its rationale for Clifford's suspension, so there is no reason they shouldn't be doing the same for Bennett. Bennett has a history of throwing these types of hits. Most recently he was suspended 3 games in January for a similar hit on the Habs forward Cedric Paquette.
The DOPS always claims they want to set a precedent for certain hits or get certain hits out of the game, well now they have a chance again to follow the precedent they set with the Clifford suspension. It will be interesting to see if we hear from them on Wednesday regarding the hit but would not be surprising if they continued to be consistently inconsistent and not do anything, since Bennett is not a Leaf.
| POLL | ||
MAI 4 | 223 ANSWERS Sam Bennett nails John Carlson with a blindside hit; suspension incoming? Does Bennett's hit on Carlson warrant a suspension? | ||
| Absolutely, dirty hit | 103 | 46.2 % |
| Borderline, maybe a fine | 86 | 38.6 % |
| It wasn't that bad, no supplemental discipline | 34 | 15.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
