NHL suspends Jeannot for dirty hit on Canucks' Boeser
We don’t know how long the Vancouver Canucks will be without Brock Boeser, but Tanner Jeannot will miss games for taking him out.
The NHL has handed out a three-game suspension to the Los Angeles Kings forward, who delivered a check to the head of Boeser in the first period of Thursday night’s game. Boeser left the game and didn’t return, presumably due to a head injury.
Jeannot was handed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head and had a phone hearing with the NHL earlier today.
In a video posted by the NHL explaining the reason behind the suspension, the league clarified that it deemed the head was the main point of contact and that the hit was avoidable.
“Jeannot finishes a high, hard check that cuts across the front of Boeser’s body, missing his core and making his head the main point of contact on a hit where such head contact was avoidable,” an NHL Department of Player Safety spokesperson says in the video.
In order for the hit to be legal, the NHL said Jeannot needed to stay low and deliver the check through Boeser’s shoulder and core.
“The head is the main point of contact. While there is some contact with Boeser’s body, Jeannot’s shoulder makes direct and forceful contact with Boeser’s head, and it is the head that absorbs the majority of the force of this check.
“Second, the head contact on this play is avoidable. It is Jeannot who is in control of this hit, and he chooses an angle of approach that cuts across the front of Boeser, missing his core and making his head the main point of contact.”
The Canucks had an off day today following a perfect 3-0 California road trip. We’ll see if Boeser suits up on Saturday for a playoff rematch against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena, but that seems optimistic.
The Canucks have six straight home games coming up against the Oilers, Flames, Islanders, Blackhawks, Predators, and Rangers.