Evan Chen (9) | STAFF REPORTER
Detroit Red Wings forward David Perron has been suspended 6 games for his action in a game against the Ottawa Senators. Perron cross checked defenseman Artem Zub in the head which occurred after an incident that left Red Wings Capitan, Dylan Larkin, lying passed out on the ice.
The injury happened when the Ottawa forward cross checked Larkin in the head causing him to fall into another forward, Parker Kelly. Kelly then cross checks Larkin in the abdominal area, causing Larkin to fall to the ice, motionless. Perron, seeing his teammate on the ice motionless, goes after Zub, who unfortunately was standing at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Perron was assessed a 10 minute match penalty and was thrown out of the game. Both Joseph and Kelly received 2 minute minor penalties for roughing. Larkin did leave the game and not return; he was injured for a week and has now been cleared to play. After the suspension, the NHLPA decided to appeal the 6 game suspension on behalf on Perron. However, by the time the decision is made, Perron would’ve have already served his sentence in full, meaning the NHLPA is just appealing so that Perron doesn’t lose as much money. If the appeal is denied, Perron will have to forfeit almost 150,000 dollars in salary.
Many people in the hockey world were shocked by the length of this suspension, as Perron had a clean record throughout his 1000+ games career, even Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde expressed his surprise. Lalonde brought up a similar incident last year, when Leafs superstar Auston Matthews was suspended 2 games for a cross check to the head of Buffalos Rasmus Dahlin. Lalonde believed the two incidents were very similar and that Perron’s suspension should’ve of been around the same as Matthews. Perron will return to action on December 22 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
