Did NHL Go Too Far With Ovechkin's Suspension?

After a knee-on-knee collision with Tim Gleason of the Carolina Hurricanes, Alex Ovechkin has been suspended for two games. He was also issued a five-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing. This is his second game misconduct in three games.

He was suspended for two games as a result of the incident. However, Ovechkin said that the knee was unintentional and that Gleason turned away suddenly.

After looking at the replay ,  I kind of have to agree with him. After you commit to a check, it’s very difficult to adjust when a player changes directions.

Obviously, the NHL did not see that the same way I did. To me, there was nothing malicious about it, but the NHL obviously saw something. I haven’t heard an explanation from the NHL, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t given one, I may have missed it. (If you heard one, please leave a comment and let me know what they said.)

But I don’t think that any explanation will change my opinion. I looked at the hit, I saw the replay, and there wasn’t any chance that he meant to knee Gleason.

A lot of people are thinking that Ovechkin stuck his knee out, but if you look at the replay, you’ll see that Ovechkin was leaning into a hit. He was not sticking his knee out, he was sticking his shoulder out. You can see him try to change directions with Gleason. This supports his story that he was trying to do a regular hit.

Anyway, please leave a comment, I’m anxious to see what you have to say about this topic because I know that not everybody will agree with me.

Originally Posted at Tips for Hockey