The NHL suspended Minnesota Wild striker Kevin Fiala for three games for his ugly blow to Matt Roy of the Los Angeles Kings.
During Thursday’s 5-3 victory in the Wild over the Kings, Fiala received a major boarding and misconduct from hitting Roy.
As you can see in the explanation from the Player Security Department, the league believed that Fiala was “totally in control” as the game developed. It was a “high speed and dangerous distance from the plates” hit. There are several mentions of Fiala “seeing Roy’s numbers” before embarking on him.
Other factors that the NHL mentioned after suspending Fiala for three games for boarding Roy:
- Roy suffered an injury during the play.
- On the other hand, Fiala has no history of suspensions.
The main image of this post captures how dangerous that move really was.
Damn it.
In general, it was a very bad blow, which the league should legislate out of the game. It would be great if other dangerous and often unnecessary checks were also discouraged, but that decision is better than nothing.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Professional hockey lecture at NBC Sports. Talk to him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.