On Wednesday, Chicago Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach took a nasty hit from Gabriel Landeskog, the captain of the Colorado Avalanche in their season opener. Right away, NHL fans called for a suspension for the hit on Dach. Fans will get their wish, as there was a suspension handed out on Thursday.
For starters, Dach was in a vulnerable position with his left knee being on the ice when the hit was delivered. Though the argument could be Landeskog was just finishing his check, it wasn’t needed. The puck would have ended up in the exact same spot, whether the hit was delivered or not. The NHL player safety commission deemed that the hit wasn’t necessary, handing out a suspension.
The NHL player safety commission has handed Landeskog a two-game suspension for the hit. Though Colorado did win the hockey game in their home opener, they will have to go without their captain for a couple of games.
Good on the NHL for putting Dach’s safety as their number one goal for the hit. It was unneeded and could have caused a serious injury. There’s no part for hits like that in hockey – at any level.
Hopefully, Landeskog will learn from this and bounce back. The next time the Blackhawks and Avalanche meet up will be interesting. Will it turn ugly fast? Will there be extra motivation to get that one back for Dach? We’ll have to wait until January 4th, 2022 for that answer.
Outside of the hit Dach took, he did struggle on Wednesday night. He missed a few key chances to put the puck in the net. He could have helped out his team a lot if he could have capitalized on his breakaway chances.
In the meantime, Blachawks’ fans will take the two-game suspension and hope for a win Friday night against the Devils. For their sake, they have to play better on defense and help goalie Marc-Andre Fleury out. The way they started that game was ugly.
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