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Mike Hoffman cross-checks Logan Couture’s head; guess suspension
Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman was given a shove from behind by Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks in the third period of their game on Wednesday night.
He didn’t appreciate it. Like, at all.
So Hoffman took a measured and completely reasonable response, which was of course to cross-check Couture in the back of the head in front of the San Jose crease. Well, reasonable if the ultimate goal was to earn a suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Hoffman was given a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct. Couture left the game and did not return.
Coach Pete DeBoer offered no update on his condition, declining to say if Couture would accompany the team on its postgame flight to Montreal.
Brenden Dillon had the best view of the incident, immediately grabbing and challenging Hoffman. “Logan just finished his check with me and then he skated across, and [he got] cross-checked right in the back of his head,” Dillon said. “I don’t know what [Hoffman] was really thinking on that. Hopefully [Couture is] OK. I haven’t seen him yet since we finished the game.”
DeBoer said he “didn’t like” the hit. “We’ll see. Hopefully [Couture] is alright.”
The Senators vs. Sharks game was surprisingly chippy, including an incident earlier in the game when Marc-Edouard Vlasic appeared to go after Erik Karlsson with his stick in the corner:
That led to a fight between Vlasic and Kyle Turris (!!!) that saw Turris given a fighting major, an instigator and a misconduct.
Karlsson claimed that he was “pitchforked in the face” by Vlasic:
The NHL will, of course, take a look at that incident, too. But it’s the Hoffman one that will undoubtedly result in a suspension.
What do you think Hoffman gets for a stick to Couture’s head? Even with Dillon on him at the time of the cross-check, it’s hard to imagine this isn’t upwards of at least four games, maybe more if Couture is injured.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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