New Jersey Devils' Draft Pick Patrice Cormier Suspended 20 Games And Playoffs

By now I think we’ve all seen the vicious elbow that Patrice Cormier hit Mikeal Tam with, not only rendering him unconscious and sending him into convulsions but knocking out a few teeth.  

If you haven't, here's the video.

The possible total number of games he will be suspended for is 48, if his QMJHL team makes the playoffs and each series goes the distance.

The possibility of Cormier, since he’s a New Jersey Devil draft pick, making his way into the AHL for the rest of the year is there.

He must apply for this though, whether he does or does not remains to be seen.

It’s up to the AHL who will then review the play on their own and make a decision according to the laws that govern their league if Cormier decides to apply.

The emotional baggage carried around by a player who has done something of this magnitude lasts for a long, long time, just ask Todd Bertuzzi.

These incidents seem to be happening more and more often in all the hockey leagues.

Toronto Maple Leafs General manager Brian Burke said, "I have no problem with a punishment that severe."

Wendel Clark told me on my show, "Get The Puck Out," on the weekend, "The game has sped up so much...we changed the rules a couple of years ago—no hooking, no holding, no holding up—and this has sped up the game so much.”

A lot of Cormier’s teammates from Team Canada and on his former team the Rimouski Oceanic said he is a great guy and had a lot of positive things to say about him.

Wendel Clark also said about the incident, "It doesn’t make him a terribly bad person but he has to pay for what he did."

In the first article I wrote on this Cormier hit, the reactions from people in the comments section were very similar, though some believed for a blatant act of violence like this he should receive a lifetime ban from the sport.

I personally wouldn’t go that far but what Cormier has received is pretty just. Whether there are going to be criminal charges laid in this case is still yet to be seen.