New York Rangers unhappy over Carl Hagelin’s 3-game suspension for hit on Daniel Alfredsson-NHL News
The New York Rangers are said to be unhappy over the National Hockey League’s (NHL) ruling of a three-game suspension to their rookie left wing, Carl Hagelin’s, but have decided against appealing the decision.
Hagelin has been suspended for three games over a hit on Ottawa Senators’ captain, Daniel Alfredsson, in the Game 2 of the playoff series on Saturday, April 14, 2012.
Alfredsson was hit up high with an elbow into the 11th minute of the second round of the game, which was won by Senators, 3-2.
It forced the captain to skate out on the bench and then to the dressing room. He did not show up for remaining part of the game.
NHL disciplinarian, Brendan Shanahan, found the hit to be "a reckless strike to the side of Alfredsson's head," and as a punishment to Hagelin over the foul, ruled his suspension from the game for the next three ties.
Hagelin’s penalty has come even though he apologised to the player through a text message. Following to the team’s practice on Sunday, April 15, 2012, he said:
"I sent him a text yesterday that said I'm sorry and I'm very regretful for what happened."
Hagelin had a meeting with the NHL disciplinarian but refused to comment anything on it. He said:
"I'm not allowed to talk about it; we'll see what happens. Whatever decision they make, I have to face it."
After the announcement of the penalty by the league’s office, Rangers made a statement, making it clear that they will not file an appeal against it.
However, they added that the punishment was inconsistent with some other such rulings the NHL had made earlier. The statement reads:
They "thoroughly perplexed in the ruling's inconsistency with other supplementary discipline decisions that have been made throughout this season and during the playoffs."
Hagelin too had come up with some explanation to the hit but the league’s office did not buy any of those. According to the NHL disciplinarian:
“Although Alfredsson's stick comes up briefly prior to contact, we do not feel this is a reasonable excuse for the elbow that took place."
He released the statement in a video.
There is no statement from Senators over the hit or any clarification if the player has successfully avoided the possibility of an injury as serious as concussion.
Furthermore, there is no confirmation if the player has undergone the mandatory concussion test, and in absence of concrete information on the latest status, it is difficult to ascertain the level of injury and recover timeline.
Meanwhile, the NHL has also imposed a game ban on Senators’ defenseman, Matt Carkner, for going after Rangers centre, Brian Boyle.
The incident occurred into third minute of first round in the game.
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