Zack Kassian of the Edmonton Oilers has been suspended for seven games for kicking his skate into the chest of Tampa Bay Lightning d-man Erik Cernak.
Here’s some reaction from Twitter leading up to and after the suspension was announced:
Boston Globe hockey writer Kevin Paul Dupont @GlobeKPD
Kassian is the rare case in which the act reads worse in print than it looks on vid.
Toronto spors commentator Dean Blundell @ItsDeanBlundell
Zack Kassian kicking a Tampa Bay player in the chest with his skate is the most Zack Kassian thing ever.
Cult of Hockey writer Kurt Leavins @KurtLeavins
Zack Kassian gets 7 games. I had thought 5 would be fair, but though the unpredictable. Department of Player Safety May have gotten 10+ from its Ouija board.
Hockey News writer Matt Larkin @THNMattLarkin
“Should I kick a guy with my skate?”
“NO! You’ll get in huge trouble. You’ll be suspended for —
*checks notes*
“Seven games? Oh, nevermind then! Go ahead!”
Boston Globe hockey writer Kevin Paul Dupont @GlobeKPD
Kassian: suspended 7 games.
My guess was 8-12.
Read: fell short of media hysteria… Once saw Cashman deliver a tomahawk two-hander that barely missed a guy’s head, landed on his shoulder. No penalty. Kassian was a love tap… Had he (Kassian) intended to to cause injury, I suspect he could have, quite easily. Target and strike. But again, impossible to discern intent…Not sticking up for ZK. Cheap, unnecessary act. Have seen far, far worse. Example: Hunter on Turgeon; Jones on Bergeron.
Edmonton Journal columnist Terry Jones @byterryjones
Zack Kassian gets seven games a deserves ever game. No public sympathy on this one.
Oilers Now commentator John Shannon @JShannonhl
There will be no appeal.
TSN commentator Matt Kassian @kassassination
According to the hate I’ve received Zack Kassian’s ‘kick’ was bad enough to warrant that the suspension last not only his entire life but mine
Sporstnet announcer Jeff Marek @JeffMarek
I was thinking 10 games and usually I come in light on this stuff.
RMNB @russianmachine
Zack Kassian suspended seven games for kicking a knife into a guy’s chest basically
Sally-Max @SallyMax183
Yes he’s a repeat offender, but look at the dates, this isn’t the same player as the one prior to the Oilers. I can’t get my head around $5000 fine for a deliberate cross check to the neck and 7 games for one man’s word against another. I have no faith in player safety.
Hockey News columnist Ken Campbell @THNKenCampbell
Seven games for kicking with your skates on. A fine for crosschecking a guy in the throat. George ‘The Violent Gentleman’ Parros continues to do a ‘bang-up’ job…. There appears to be no truth to the rumor was that Zack Kassian plans to appeal his suspension because even he thinks it’s not long enough.
Ottawa Oiler Fan @tagger2012
Oiler hate tax. If it was marchand it would 2 games
Rebuild 4.0? @Josephk90
Oilers won’t miss Kassian so I didn’t care how many games he would get. Doesn’t change how the league let’s that kind of interference go. Embarassing for the league. Also in the same game, they miss a head shot on Benning.
Aditya ?? @adii_naik
He should’ve been fined 5k at most. George Parros is a clown making a comedy act.
Jeremy McKain @jeresells
No rhyme or reason to this league , a cross check to the neck gets a 5k fine.
Copper & Blue blogger Alan Hull @alanhull
Should have been 20+ IMO. No messing around with skate blades.
David Harris @davidqharris
Seven games is light for kicking an opponent with his skate ! He could have slit his throat !
Hockey Daily 365 @HockeyDaily365
Zack Kassian has been suspended seven games for kicking Erik Cernak, as shown in the video below.
Extremely, extremely dangerous and frankly just irresponsible. Would’ve expected more, but seven games should be good enough.
Shelley Sikorski ?? @Deganna
This is bullshit…5 games yes, watch the people in the front row, they dont even show a reaction to it. I’m not condoning it but 7 games, seriously.
Hockey blogger Matt Henderson Arch @Archaeologuy
7 games for Kassian is fair, IMO. It could have been worse. It could have been lighter. Ultimately you can’t try to strike anyone with the blades of your skates.
RickRuss @russ99a
A little high. Thought 5 would be enough, nobody was injured, even though that shoukd never be done.
Alison Sykora @alisonsykora
Zack Kassian is going to kill someone on the ice one day and the NHL does not care.
Sportsnet reporter Chris Johnston @reporterchris
As a repeat offender, Zack Kassian’s seven-game suspension will cost him $166,463.41 in salary.
Paul Almeida @AzorcanGlobal
Seven games for Kassian for a selfish impulse that costs the team dearly.
KimVitaminR @Kim64779055
I think Chara should have gotten more games. There’s just no place in the league for bullshit like this. Players like Kassian, Tom Wilson and Brad Marchand are all out to injure players and the game doesn’t need that. Repeat offender Kassian should have gotten 30 games
Jason Adams @AdamsOnHockey
George Parros gets drunk, Colin Campbell spins him around ten times, and the Wheel of Justice lands on:
K-JAM @KevinJamieson86
I would have guessed in the 6,7,8 games area. Zach was both luck and unlucky in this ruling.
Had it not been for his recent suspension, this might have been 3 or 4 games. The extra games are to send a message to control his behavior.
They could have gone 9+ if they wanted.
WheatNOil @WheatNOil
2019 was a career calendar year for Zack Kassian, scoring 50 points in exactly 82 games.
2020 is a small sample size yet but so far he has 13 games, 1g-2a-3p, -5, and has been suspended for 9 total games.
The Oilers bet on 2019 being more representative than early 2020.
Kevin Paul Dupont @GlobeKPD
“Cuz one o’ these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.”
-Zack Kassian
P.S. In other Oilers news, Scott Howson will be leaving the organization to take over from Dave Andrews as CEO of the AHL, reports Frank Seravalli of TSH: “Another Canadian – and another #Oilers employee – will become the next president and CEO of @TheAHL: Scott Howson was elected today as David Andrews’ successor by a Board of Governors vote. Howson will take over on July 1 after a fantastic 26-year run by Andrews.”
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