John Moore Will Have Hearing For Hit On Erik Haula

According to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, the New York Rangers’ John Moore will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety after delivering an elbow to the head of Erik Haula in Monday’s game at Madison Square Garden.

With the below hit Moore became the second Rangers player to get a five minute major and a game misconduct in the game. (Chris Kreider got five for boarding and a game misconduct for a hit delivered to the back of Jonas Brodin.) Haula exited the game and did not return.

It looks to me like Moore might have been aiming high. He’s lining up Haula while Haula doesn’t see Moore coming (which isn’t on Moore), but Moore can see where Haula’s head will be and that he’s unlikely to change direction with the momentum he has going. Moore gets low then explodes upward with his shoulder and follows through with his elbow.

No word on if the hearing will be in person (meaning that there’s the possibility that Moore gets suspended for five games or more) or if it will be a phone hearing.

Moore has a history of delivering hits like this one to the head of opposing players. For instance, the below video of Moore delivering an elbow to the head of the Canadiens Dale Weise during the playoffs last year. The hit resulted in Moore getting a two game suspension.

You have to imagine the penalty is steeper this time, both because regular season suspensions tend to be a little longer than playoff suspensions (games mean less) and because he’s now a repeat offender with two similar plays in a very short span of time.

h/t to @myregularface for the GIF

Update:
John Moore will be getting an in-person hearing from the DoPS, which means his suspension will likely be in excess of five games. That length is largely going to be due to the fact that this is his second head shot in 13 games.