NHL's Commissioner makes Official Ruling on David Perron's Suspension Appeal

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TJ Tucker
December 22, 2023 (4:17 PM)

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Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the NHL, has released his official written ruling after David Perron of the Detroit Red Wings was suspended for six games for a brutal crosscheck on Artem Zub of the Ottawa Senators. It didn't go well for Perron.

Perron is now returning to the lineup after serving all six games, but the appeal matters because a reduction of his sentence would mean not losing as much salary. However, Bettman wrote in his ruling on the appeal that the punishment fit the crime.

"At the hearing, Mr. Perron repeatedly attempted to justify his actions as warranted intervention on behalf of a teammate and that he only intended to start a scrum. I reject that justification. NHL hockey is a physical game that sometimes results in physical confrontations. However, it is disingenuous to suggest that the cross-check here was merely intended to start a scrum. Mr. Perron could have verbally challenged Mr. Zub, but he did not.

2. He could have pushed or jabbed him or even dropped his gloves to fight, but he did not. Had he chosen other options to support his teammate he might still have been penalized, but the episode may have ended without supplementary discipline."

Perron's defense included that he had no prior history. Bettman said that was considered, but it's not relevant.

"I acknowledge that Mr. Perron does not have a meaningful history of supplementary discipline and that Mr. Zub did not suffer a serious injury. These facts were taken into consideration when determining that a six (6) game suspension was appropriate. Given the nature of the conduct (as discussed above), the suspension almost certainly would have been considerably longer if Mr. Perron did not have a clean record or if there had been an injury."

Perron can choose to have another appeal heard by a third-party adjudicator. No word on whether he'll use that option.