If you thought that Jordin Tootoo wasn’t going to hear from the NHL for his gigantic hit on Buffalo’s Ryan Miller, you were wrong.
Tootoo has a phone hearing with Brendan Shanahan this afternoon to discuss what made him go barreling through Miller unabated leading to a huge fracas on Saturday night. The hit earned Tootoo a five-minute major and a game misconduct and now a phone call with Shanahan.
What makes this hit a lot different than the one Miller took from Milan Lucic is that Miller was within the confines of his crease when Tootoo blew him up.
The phone hearing generally means that if a suspension is coming it won’t be more than five games. With Tootoo’s suspension history and with Lindy Ruff’s premonition about it being open season on goalies appearing to come true, don’t expect Shanahan to go light on Tootoo. A five-game ban isn’t out of the question here.