The NHL has thrown the book at Jason Spezza.
The Department of Player Safety announced on Tuesday evening that Spezza has been suspended for six games for kneeing the head of Winnipeg Jets defender Neal Pionk.
The hit by Spezza was in retaliation to one thrown earlier in the game by Pionk, in which the Jets defender kneed Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin. Pionk has since been suspended for two games for the hit and has also been placed in concussion protocol.
In the video provided by the DoPS explaining its decision to suspend Spezza for six games, the league states that despite Spezza’s clean history, he clearly drove his knee into Pionk’s head in an attempt to “enact forceful retribution on a player who is in a vulnerable position.”
Spezza is appealing the suspension. He’ll first communicate with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman about the ruling, and then it would go to an independent arbitrator.
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