Jason Spezza Offered In-Person Hearing for Knee on Neal Pionk

Eric Engels writes, “Never thought we’d see the day where Jason Spezza gets a five-game suspension for anything, but it’s on the table now with an in-person hearing scheduled.” That shows how much that game got nasty and that non-calls by the officials led to a number of issues among the players who were trying to sort out their issues on the ice.

This has been a running issue in the NHL as the inconsistency in calls on the ice has plagued the games thus far this season. In another game on Sunday night, Connor McDavid was thrown out of a game and assessed a five-minute major for his hit on Adrian Kempe. It was a boarding penalty but came just after McDavid was hauled down. He was clearly frustrated and trying to lay in a hit that got out of hand.

Spezza Not a Dirty Player

While Spezza doesn’t have any track record in the NHL of dirty plays, the hit was certainly dirty and Spezza will be hit with a suspension. The question now is, just how long will that suspension be? A game that was full of infractions, Pionk will have a hearing today for kneeing Rasmus Sandin, and Wayne Simmonds has been fined $2,250 for cross-checking Jansen Harkins.