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Flames’ Lucic suspended two games for roughing Sherwood

lucicsherwood

Milan Lucic has been suspended two games for his punch on Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kole Sherwood Saturday night.

The Calgary Flames forward took exception to Sherwood’s extra poke at the puck -- which earned him a minor -- as goaltender David Rittich covered it for a faceoff. As Lucic approached Sherwood he threw a punch and then a big scrum went down behind the net. Sherwood did go through concussion protocol but returned to the game.

Lucic was given a double-minor for roughing, and not long after the game ended 3-0 in the Flames’ favor the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced there would be a Sunday hearing.

Here’s the NHL’s reasoning for the two-game ban, which sees Lucic’s recent history come into play:

Lucic will begin his suspension Sunday night and will be eligible to return Thursday against the Devils. He will also lose out on $64,516.12 in salary, which will be donated to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

UPDATE: Flames GM Brad Treliving responds to the two-game suspension:

“I have the utmost respect for George Parros and the Department of Player Safety. They do a great job. But on this one, we vehemently disagree. I saw a player who poked, jabbed, whacked, speared, whatever you want to call it, the goaltender. I think 31 teams around the league, if you do that to anybody, there is going to be a reaction. We support our player 100%. We want our players to support each other, back each other up, and we felt that’s what Milan was doing in this case.”

MORE: Lucic delivers another questionable ‘sucker punch’

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.