Wings Head Into Game 7 Without Kronwall; NHL Explains One-Game Suspension
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - After a hearing Tuesday afternoon with the NHL Department of Player Safety, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall received a one-game suspension for his hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov during Monday's game at Joe Louis Arena.
As a result, the Red Wings approach their most important game of the season to date - Game 7 of their first-round playoff series against Tampa Bay - without their best defenseman.
The NHL explained the suspension in a video posted to its Twitter account.
The league's main points of contention were the fact Kronwall left his skates prior to delivering the hit and the fact Kronwall delivered the blow to Kucherov's head.
"After taking a couple of quick strides to intercept Kucherov's path, Kronwall launches up and into a hit, driving his left forearm into Kucherov's face just after Kucherov releases the pass," the narrator of the video states. "This is charging. Many charging penalties are adequately punished by a minor or major penalty. What causes this infraction to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the force with which the hit was delivered and the significant head contact that resulted from Kronwall launching into it.
"Rather than staying low and delivering a full-body check to Kucherov's core, Kronwall elevates unacceptably, with his skates off the ice prior to contact," the video continues.
In its explanation, the NHL made a point to distinguish between the hit on Kucherov and the heavy hits for which Kronwall is known - the ones that often inspire the chant "You got Kronwalled!"
"It is important to note that this hit differs from countless other hits delivered by Kronwall at this same location on the ice and under similar circumstances," the narrator of the video states. "First, rather than his skates leaving the ice after impact and as a result of the collision, Kronwall launches into this hit and is airborne at impact. Second, rather than hitting with his body or back squarely through his opponent's core, Kronwall makes contact with his forearm and elbow, with much of the force being absorbed by Kucherov's face. The combination of both of these two factors are what differentiate this hit from previous similar examples."
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After the game, Kronwall said he thought the play was legal.
"I haven't seen it on replay, so I can't really say too much about it," Kronwall said. "I thought it was a clean hit at the time.
"Usually when you go, the impact itself kind of carries you up," Kronwall added.
Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg had also deemed Kronwall's hit a clean one.
"When I saw it, it's a clean, hard hit," Zetterberg said. "He had good timing there, Kronner. I don't think their player saw him."
The following section of the league rulebook outlines the parameters for an illegal check to the head:
"A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted. In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be considered:
(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent's body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward.
(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full body check unavoidable."
