Player Safety Announces Official Verdict on Timo Meier's Suspension
The Department of Player Safety announced an official verdict on Timo Meier's suspension after a dirty cross-check on Nashville Predators rookie Zachary L'Heureux.
Last night, the Nashville Predators were in New Jersey to face the Devils, a tough challenge for Steven Stamkos and his team amid their terrible start to the season.
The Devils won 5-2, with captain Nico Hischier scoring a hat-trick, and Jacob Markstrom blocking 19 out of the 21 shots fired by the Preds.
Unfortunately, with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third period, an incident occurred that cast a cloud over the Devils win.
Timo Meier was ejected after giving a dirty cross-check to Zachary L'Heureux.
L'Heureux was the one to deal the first blow. He cross-checked Meier, but the Devils forward decided to retaliate with a much harder hit on L'Heureux's face.
Check it out:
On Tuesday morning, the NHL confirmed that Meier would have a hearing during the day for his actions.
Here's their official statement:
He is now facing consequences.
In breaking news, the DoPS announced its verdict for Meier's suspension.
They revealed that Meier will serve a one game suspension in the following post on X:
Meier, a veteran, should've known better. Hitting a player in the face, especially a rookie, at that strength, isn't sportsmanlike. The 28-year-old took part in 565 games in the NHL over nearly 10 years.
L'Heureux, 21, took part in 17 games this year, scoring two goals and three assists in the first stretch of his rookie season.
The forward hurt his team with his five-minute penalty at the end of the game against the Predators, and his suspension hurts even more.
This is a gesture that fans never want to see. It could've easily been avoided and it ended with a player being hurt, and the other being suspended.
Nothing positive comes out of that hit, and hopefully, Meier will think twice before doing something like this ever again.
