Canadiens’ Byron gets three games for head hit
The NHL suspended Montreal Canadiens forward Paul Byron for three games after a hit that injured Florida Panthers defenceman MacKenzie Weegar on Tuesday night.
Byron drew a minor penalty for charging on a check that left Weegar in concussion protocol during the second period of Montreal’s 5-1 win over the visiting Panthers.
In a video explaining the suspension, the NHL’s department of player safety stated: “Byron launches himself excessively upwards coming off the ice to deliver the hit, and in the process makes significant and forceful head contact. There is no reason why the shoulder of Byron should be making direct and forceful contact with Weegar’s head.”
It’s the first suspension of Byron’s 397-game NHL career. He’ll forfeit $18,817.20 (U.S.) in salary and be eligible to return Feb. 2. WORLD CUP: NHL owners and players abandoned the idea of staging the next World Cup of Hockey in September 2020, after collective bargaining talks Wednesday in Toronto and last week in Las Vegas. The announcement was significant in relation to negotiations on the next collective agreement. This September, owners and players both have the power to opt out of the current contract and end it on Sept.15, 2020. If they don’t, terms of the deal would run until 2022. CANUCKS: Rookie Elias Pettersson, Vancouver’s leading scorer with 42 points in 38 games, skated with the Canucks before Wednesday’s game against the Oilers, but missed his fourth game in a row with a knee injury. Pettersson said af- ter watching video of the play that led to the injury, where he got tied up with Canadiens centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi and fell awkwardly: “It’s just an accident. We got tangled up. I don’t think he wants to injure me or anything.” The 20-year-old centre might return to action Friday against the Sabres.