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NHL suspends Clarke MacArthur through first two games of regular season

Clarke MacArthur, Jimmy Howard, Justin Abdelkader

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Clarke MacArthur, center, celebrates a goal in overtime by Mike Komisarek against Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard (35) as left wing Justin Abdelkader (8) reacts during an NHL preseason hockey game on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, in Detroit. Toronto won 4-3 in overtime. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

AP

Earlier today, PHT expressed optimism about the chances of the Nikolai Kulemin-Mikhail Grabovski-Clarke MacArthur line maintaining their momentum from last season. Of course, to accomplish that goal, the Toronto trio will need to play together as much as possible.

That sequel season will get off to a slow start because the NHL suspended MacArthur for the rest of the preseason as well as two regular season games today. The Maple Leafs winger caught Detroit Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader with an illegal hit at the end of the third period during the teams’ preseason game on Friday. MacArthur will lose $35,135.14 in pay because of the suspension. He’ll be able to play again on Oct. 15 against the Calgary Flames.

MacArthur wasn’t penalized for the hit and was actually on the ice against Abdelkader for Mike Komisarek’s game-winning overtime goal, which you can see from this post’s main image.

Brendan Shanahan’s explanation video will go up once it is available, but you can review the hit by watching the video linked here. That check seems clearly illegal to me, but you’re welcome to make a case for MacArthur in the comments.