On Sunday afternoon, the Wings needed a shootout to defeat the Florida Panthers 2-1. They played most of the third and overtime with only five defensemen after Kyle Quincey was ejected for an elbow to the head of Tomas Kopecky. He received a five-minute major and an additional ten minute misconduct.
The National Hockey League determined that his action warranted at least a further look, and potentially a suspension — and scheduled a hearing for 1:00pm this afternoon. When the verdict was finally rendered, it was revealed that discipline czar Brendan Shanahan has suspended Kyle Quincey for one game: Wednesday’s game against the division champion Blues.
Earlier in the day, we used Twitter to poll the masses. We started the over/under at 1.5 games, but seeing as how 100% of folks thought he’d get at least two, we upped the line to 2.5. The vast majority thought three, and a handful thought a bit longer. With the relative leniency Shanahan has been showing as the season wears down – not to mention Tomas Kopecky was (thankfully) not injured on the play, we thought that maybe he’d get away with two or fewer. Once it was announced that it was a single game… everyone was shocked.
To watch Brendan Shanahan’s video explaining the suspension, click here to go to NHL.com’s video.
Quincey joins fellow blueliner Brendan Smith on the list of suspended Red Wings during the 2011-12 season. Smith received five regular season games after making contact with the head of Ben Smith during the pre-season. This was the first disciplinary action for Kyle Quincey, which very likely played into the low end of the suspension spectrum (suspectrum?).
He was in the defenseman rotation as it was, and his play has been slightly lacking since the initial thumbs up had worn off. He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season and will likely be seeking a similar salary to the one he’s making now ($3.25M). Speaking of cash, Quincey will forfeit $16,892, which will be added to the player’s emergency fund.
Photo Credit: Getty Images, courtesy of DetroitRedWings.com