The Canadian | Brendan Gallagher suspended five games

Martin St-Louis has spoken at length, over the past two days, about the “fine line” faced by players who display as much intensity as Brendan Gallagher. This line, the attacker crossed it, Thursday, against the New York Islanders.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety imposed a five-game suspension on the 31-year-old winger on Friday. This is the first suspension of his career of more than 700 games.

In the third period, Gallagher received a major penalty after elbowing Adam Pelech in the head. The defender had just crossed his blue line and got rid of the puck when the impact took place. Pelech, who never saw his attacker arrive, remained on the ground for a long time and left the meeting. Gallagher was immediately sent off and his team had to defend one man short for five minutes.

In a video published on the NHL website, Stéphane Quintal, vice-president of the player safety department, explains in French the decision that was rendered.

“Gallagher chose to take an angle of approach that directed him towards the front of Pelech’s body,” he said. Realizing he might miss his check, and in an attempt to make contact with Pelech, Gallagher raises his elbow and extends upward, aiming hard for the head. »

“If Gallagher wants to apply this check,” Quintal continues, “he must stay low and adopt a striking angle that will hit Pelech’s shoulder and trunk rather than [l’angle] which made the head the main point of contact for contact. »

To justify the suspension, the league maintains that it was a blow to the head, that the contact was avoidable and that Pelech was injured during the game. However, we qualify by emphasizing Gallagher’s almost clean disciplinary history – only one fine since his arrival on the circuit. We do not know, at the moment, if the Canadian winger will appeal this sanction.

The Canadian’s head coach, Martin St-Louis, did not wish to comment on the situation on Friday morning, although the judgment had not yet been announced at that time.

Since the game that the Habs will play this Saturday in Pittsburgh will be their last before taking advantage of a week off, Gallagher will not play again before February 15 against the New York Rangers.

This is the third suspension imposed this season following a blow to the head. Connor Clifton of the Buffalo Sabers had to miss two games after hitting Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils. Then Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins went to the stands to think for four games due to a charge against Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Florida Panthers.

In McAvoy’s case, the justification was essentially the same as for Gallagher, but it was also argued that the defender had already received a suspension for similar offenses in the past. McAvoy appealed the decision, but league commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the initial ruling.

This suspension is also the most severe imposed on a Canadiens player since Max Domi was also sanctioned for five games in 2018. During a preseason match, Domi punched Aaron Ekblad, of the Panthers, in the face of Florida, while he refused to engage in combat. He was excluded from the remainder of the preparatory schedule, which represented five matches.

In April 2013, Ryan White also had to serve a five-game sentence due to a blow to the head. His victim was then Kent Huskins of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Three in seven for Allen

The rate of starts granted to Jake Allen has decreased considerably in recent weeks. In 20 CH matches played since December 13, the veteran has only been sent in front of the net 5 times. In Pittsburgh this Saturday, however, Allen will get a 3^e start in 7 games. In his most recent two outings, he was a key part of his club’s 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche, but he had a lousy night in a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators . If we rely on the trends of the last few weeks, we would have thought that Samuel Montembeault would still get the start after having been splendid on Thursday, or even what we call Cayden Primeau. Are we trying to give Allen ice time in order to convince another team to acquire him? Maybe yes, maybe no.

Newhook on skates

For the second time in two days, Alex Newhook skated before his teammates’ practice on Friday. However, this was the first time he had done it in full gear. He worked for about half an hour with Adam Nicholas, director of hockey development, who did not spare him. After Newhook suffered a sprained ankle on November 30, the organization announced that he would miss 10 to 12 weeks of activity. If this schedule is respected, he would return to action around mid-February. Otherwise, Jake Evans, David Savard and Sean Monahan all missed Friday’s practice to undergo “treatments.” This is the second time in a row that Savard has skipped his turn, and the third time in ten days in the case of Monahan.

Xhekaj makes his mea culpa

After receiving two penalties Thursday against the New York Islanders, Arber . Xhekaj explained that he wanted to apologize for his indiscipline the day before. “There was no reason to receive such punishments,” he said. We were leading 3-0 and we controlled the match. I wanted to break the abscess with the coaches. I know they were angry and they were right. I wanted to remind Martin that I care about this team. » For its part, St-Louis did not want to be too hard on its defender, at least in front of the cameras. While he noted that Xhekaj, like all players on the team, must be aware of the situation in the match when he makes certain actions, St-Louis also recalled the importance of not misrepresenting a player. “He’s a player who will always play on the limit, but you don’t want to take that away from him,” St-Louis said. It reminds me of a player like [Joel] Armia. He takes punishment for actions with his stick, but how often does he win the puck? You have to be careful not to handcuff their assets. »

The Canadian Press