Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson appealed his four-game suspension for elbowing Patrik Laine in his team’s tilt against the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday.
Andersson flattened Laine with seconds remaining in a 3-1 defeat as the forward prepared to shovel the puck towards Calgary’s open goal; after officials assessed Andersson a match penalty on the ice for elbowing, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety slapped him with a 4-game suspension later in the weekend.
Though the NHLPA appealed the suspension on the Swede’s behalf on Sunday, the league does not look kindly on headshots like Andersson’s, who left his feet to level an injury-prone player down two goals with no time left on the clock.
Though a four-game suspension is uncommonly harsh for a league that usually relies on paltry maximum fines like the one given to Flyers’ forward Garnet Hathaway for sidelining Laine’s teammate Zach Werenski with a knee-to-knee hit, Andersson’s actions were indefensible even by the standards of the most fervent Flames homer.
Laine was absent in Saturday’s victory over the Minnesota Wild because of the hit. The Blue Jackets are 3-2 to start the year but need their top sniper, who has struggled to start the season, firing to make headway in a loaded Metropolitan Division.
Andersson and the Flames are also in the midst of a transitional season after missing the playoffs in 2022-23 and sit at just 2-3-1 after six games; the fast-starting Detroit Red Wings shellacked Albertans 6-2 in the first game of their top D-man’s suspension.
If Andersson’s appeal falls flat, he will not play again until Calgary hosts the Dallas Stars at the Saddledome on Nov. 1.
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