Jeff Skinner has been suspended for two games for kicking St. Louis Blues forward Scott Nichol during Thursday night's game.

Michael Smith

Follow on Twitter

The suspension was announced on Friday night by the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety.

According to Brendan Shanahan, the senior vice president of player safety and hockey operations, Skinner pushed off of Nichol with his skate blade while down along the boards. This is a violation of rule 49.1, which describes kicking as "the action of a player deliberately using his skate or skates with a kicking motion to propel the puck or to contact an opponent."

Shanahan said that whether Skinner felt vulnerable or the need to separate himself from Nichol, "any intentional and reckless use of the skate blade in this manner is extremely dangerous and unacceptable."

Skinner had been contacted by the Department of Player Safety a day prior for an alleged slew foot. Shanahan didn't go into detail regarding this incident, but one would assume it refers to the March 6 game in Washington in which Dmitry Orlov was upended by Skinner's skate.

Skinner will be unavailable for the Hurricanes' game in Minnesota on Saturday afternoon and Sunday night's game in Winnipeg.

With Jiri Tlusty re-entering the lineup on Saturday and Derek Joslin assuming a fourth-line winger role, the Hurricanes will not need to recall a forward to replace Skinner.

Subscribe | Comment | Contact Previous | Next