Boston Bruins Rumors 2015: NHL Suspends Max Talbot for Late Hit
The Boston Bruins will be missing the services of Max Talbot after the Department of Player Safety of the NHL slapped him with a two-game ban after hitting Jiri Tlusty in the second quarter of the Bruins' 2-1 win against the Devils.
The league released a video statement detailing the suspension, wherein officials laid out how the play went and why it warrants punishment. In that game, Talbot was caught driving his right shoulder into the head and chest of Tlusty with the clear intention to hurt. The reason why it was deemed intentional, resulting to supplemental discipline, is because the nature of the hit was predatory and came very late.
This would be Talbot's first-ever suspension in a career that started in 2002. It also couldn't have come at the most inopportune time when he was already gaining momentum and playing some great ice hockey.
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For his part, Tlusty believed that the hit wasn't legal, though he managed to return to the game after the hit, even if he appeared to have been badly hurt at that moment. "I didn't even know who it was. I was trying to curl back and see where the puck went and what Travis (Zajac) was going to do with it and I got hit. I didn't really see it coming," he said.
But the suspension could also be a blessing for Zac Rinaldo, a Bruins' forward who is coming off an injury. He may be designated to play the role of fourth line center, along with Landon Ferraro, while Talbot serves his suspension. Rinaldo got hurt and suffered an upper body injury after figuring into a fight with Matt Hendricks of the Edmonton Oilers.
Talbot's suspension means that he won't be given pay for those two games, worth exactly $19,354.84. The said amount will then be donated to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
