Marco Scandella to Have Department of Player Safety Hearing
Marco Scandella will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Wednesday night, following a check to the head of the New York Islanders’ Brock Nelson in Tuesday’s 5-4 Minnesota Wild win.
Minnesota defenseman Marco Scandella will have a hearing this evening for an illegal check to the head of NY Islanders forward Brock Nelson.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 10, 2014
This is Scandella’s second illegal check to the head this season, which means that he’s probably not getting off with a fine, like he did for his check on St. Louis’ T.J. Oshie earlier in the year. The two hits occurred just ten days apart.
The hit on Nelson certainly deserves a hearing. It wasn’t malicious, I don’t think, but it was a hit to the head and Scandella thrusts upward through the hit creating a dangerous play for Nelson.
It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out for Scandella, as these kind of hits generally garner about a two-game suspension unless they’re particularly vicious. However, Scandella, because of the hit on Oshie, is now a repeat offender and repeated a similar hit in a very short period of time.
Take a look at the hit below.
Illegal check to the head on Brock Nelson by Marco Scandella. GIF via @myregularface
GIF via @myregularface.
In other suspension news, it looks like the Islanders Matt Martin isn’t going to even have a hearing for the hit on Keith Ballard that sent Ballard to the hospital.