Nashville Predators forward Zachary L’Heureux has been suspended three games by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for slew-footing Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon.
The illegal contact came 3:19 into the second period of Tuesday’s game in Minnesota. The Nashville forward kicked out Spurgeon’s skates while pushing backwards with his elbow on the blueliner’s upper body. Spurgeon crashed into the boards, his right leg bending awkwardly.
L’Heureux was given a match penalty for slew-footing by referees Frederick L’Ecuyer and Graedy Hamilton.
Slew-footing is covered in Rule 52:
Slew-footing is the act of a player using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.
Any player who is guilty of slew-footing shall be assessed a match penalty.
Spurgeon left the game with an injury. He is expected to miss up to three weeks.
“The league has their process, and they handled it. We live with that,” said Wild general manager Bill Guerin. “In the end it doesn’t get our player back. That’s what makes me lose sleep at night is they get their player back in three games. Ours is out two to three weeks.”
L’Heureux forfeits $13,489.59 in salary as a result of the suspension. He had not previously been fined nor suspended during his 33-game National Hockey League career; he was, however, suspended twice by the AHL for a total of three games, and nine times by the QMJHL for a total of 36 games.
