Suspensions: four Rocket forwards (including Samuel Blais) suspended

The AHL has decided to crack down on such behavior… and the Rocket is going through the wringer: in total, four of the club’s forwards will share 10-game suspensions.

Alex Belzile, Laurent Dauphin, and Joshua Roy have all been suspended for three games, while Samuel Blais has been handed a one-game suspension.

Without these four forwards, the club will face the Bridgeport Islanders today. These are heavy losses… but the good news is that the Lions are off today.

Three players have been recalled and will play today, while three other players already in Laval will also join the squad. This will replace the four suspended players, but also Del Gaizo (who won’t play after Pezzetta’s vicious hit yesterday) and Kaapo Kahkönen (who won’t have to be in front of the net twice in two days).

The good news for the Rocket is that reinforcements should arrive sooner rather than later. After today’s game, the club doesn’t play again until next Thursday… and by then, Blais will be back.

It’s also conceivable that Jared Davidson, who is on extra duty in Montreal, could be ceded to the club-school. The Habs will be at home on Thursday, so they don’t really need an extra forward.

Note that the Rocket have only three games left before the Christmas break, so the three forwards who received three-game suspensions won’t be back until December 27. We’re talking about a good two weeks’ absence.

Extension

On the Marlies’ side, only one guy got a suspension for what happened yesterday: Michael Pezzetta.

The former Habs player was also suspended for three games.