Detroit Red Wings' Brendan Smith Suspended 5 Games

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason and five regular-season games, without pay, for an illegal hit to the head of of Chicago forward Ben Smith during a preseason game on September 28, NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Brendan Smith will forfeit $23,648.65. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

At 5:26 of the third period, Brendan Smith hit Ben Smith in the head, injuring the Chicago player in the process. Brendan Smith was assessed a match penalty.

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[darkinseption]

that nigga got recked

[buttkick22]

Shannahan got this right. Ben smith barely moved. Easy call.

[HuskysFan]

@redwings1319 Its was not a sitution to try a check, it was the situation to play defensively (by diving or by using his stick to take the puck). That hit was totally useless

[redwings1319]

@HuskysFan why? because he tried to hit his shoulder and Ben moved slightly enough to change the hit by a few inches and it BARELY missed his shoulder?  It was an unfortunate incident which, IMHO, deserved the 3 preseason games AND 2-3 regular season games, not 5 regular season and 3 preseason(8 games). Brendan had NO intent to injure.

[trav4oilers]

WHY DONT YOU JUST TAKE HITTING OUT OF THE GAME, GARY BETTMAN AND EVERY OTHER PUSSY IN THE LEAGUES BOARD ARE TURNING HOCKEY INTO TENNIS, TAKE HITTING OUT OF THE GAME, TAKE THE BOARDS OUT AND THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED. OR JUST BRING SCOTT STEVENS BACK!

[jlteed]

@kdawg87pens Totally agree!!! I'm sure the Defender was anticipating the Hawk to make a move catching him square to the body. Shanny will be busy this year!

[kdawg87pens]

I'm not a Detroit fan. Speaking though as an NHL fan this was to me a victim of circumstances type play. The guy with the puck going in changed his body direction slightly which means he was about to shoot. Now if he had not moved his body this was going to be a shoulder to shoulder hit. Unfortunately for the guy who got injured it wasn't. To me this rule is just like the NFL's rule. Unfortunately stupid, but with good intentions of keeping blows to the head less severe.

[mrhockeyman14]

weird guy stops moving his feet and tries to pull a move and gets smoked

[kagomefan101]

I hate the Blackhawks, but Shanny got this right. This was a hit to the head, and well worth 5 games.

Also great to see that he's not playing favorites *cough* Colin Campbell *cough* considering he played for Detroit.

GO SHANNY! :)

[BrayGoesTV]

SHANNY STRIKES AGAIN