Mike Rupp Blindsides Blues' T.J. Oshie with Vicious Hit to the Head

Updates from Friday, April 11

Matt Brown of 590 Radio reports that Rupp will be suspended four games for his hit on Oshie:

Original Text

Mike Rupp's wallet is gonna be a lot lighter after Thursday night.

The Minnesota Wild left winger connected with a violent hit to the head of St. Louis Blues right winger T.J. Oshie. Oshie gained fame during the Sochi Olympics this February when he lifted Team USA to a victory over Russia with four shootout goals in a 3-2 group qualifying win.  

Oshie had no idea Rupp was coming and got completely blindsided with the hit.

Rupp was given a match penalty for intent-to-injure, which means he's automatically suspended. The NHL's Department of Player Safety will look at the incident and decide on a proper punishment, per NESN's Nicholas Goss.

Blues color analyst Kelly Chase thinks Rupp will be hit with a heavy fine:

Coincidentally, this was the 34-year-old's first game since February, per Mike Cole of NESN. It could be his last game for some time as well:

Oshie never returned to the game, per the team's official Twitter account:

Fans love to see good, clean hits in hockey, but what Rupp did has no place in the sport. You can see with the way that he lowered his shoulder that he knew exactly what he's doing.

The league should come down heavy on the Wild winger as a result.