During Saturday’s matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin got sandwiched with hits between the Senators’ Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly.
Larkin appeared to get completely knocked out, laying unconscious on the ice.
It was scary moment for everyone involved and watching, and Red Wings’ David Perron came to his captain’s defense.
Thinking it was Artem Zub who injured Larkin, he delivered a violent cross-heck to Zub’s head.
Perron was initially called for a five-minute cross-checking major, but after review, it was upgraded to a match penalty for intent to injure.
On Monday, the NHL Player Safety announced that Perron was suspended for six games.
Following the injury on Saturday, Dylan Larkin will be out of the Red Wings’ lineup indefinitely. Now, they’ll also have to play without Perron for six games.
The Department of Player Safety did acknowledge one of Detroit’s arguments, stating that it wasn’t a direct blow to the head, but they disagreed.
“First, this is not a hockey play. This is an intentional strike with a stick, made with the purpose of exacting retribution on an opponent. This is not a case in which two players are jousting and are mutually aware that sticks are being raised,” they said while explaining the decision.
“While we have heard the argument from the club that this is not a direct blow to the head, we disagree. The brunt of the impact of this blow is clearly absorbed by Zub’s head due directly to the actions and choices made by Perron.”
Detroit fans have been absolutely furious with the decision, given that Zub played in the next shift while their captain will be sidelined for some time.
But the angriest person of them all was probably Perron’s agent, Allan Walsh.
He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his disappointment with the decision, and he absolutely slammed the NHL Player Safety boss, George Parros.
“The Parros Kangaroo Court suspended for 4 games here. Lost teeth, gushing blood. David Perron suspended 6 games. Artem Zub played the next shift. Farce!” Walsh said, posting a clip of Evgeni Malkin cross-checking an opponent in the face.
Walsh also posted some other clip, trying to highlight how inconsistent the department of player safety really is:
