NHL Player Safety announces bad news for David Perron.

All of the attention in Detroit on Saturday night was, understandably, on the status of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin and while Larkin was knocked out on the ice many failed to notice a devastating cross check that was delivered by Red Wings veteran David Perron. Many failed to notice the cross check, but the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety has not.

It sounds like Perron is now facing a hefty suspension with Player Safety announcing on Sunday that Perron has been offered an in person hearing for his infraction. In person hearings are offered when the NHL intends to suspend a player for more than 5 games, which likely means that the league will be throwing the book at Perron here.

The NHL has yet to set a date for Perron’s hearing.

You can hardly blame the league for taking this matter seriously however as Perron’s attack on Senators defenseman Artem Zub was both vicious and unprovoked. 

Perron, incorrectly, believed that Zub had been responsible for injuring Larkin and delivered a nasty looking crosscheck to the head of the unsuspecting Senators defenseman. The blow itself is suspension worthy, but the fact that Perron delivered it to a defenseless and entirely innocent player makes it look much, much worse.

Perron was awarded a 5 minute major and game misconduct on Saturday night, but there is far more discipline forthcoming.