Jarkko Ruutu’s hit on Martin Erat will cost him a one game suspension, Ruutu has been suspended by the NHL and he will miss torrow night's game five between the Ducks and the Predators.
Edit: If you want to read an interesting perspective about the hit click on the link to the Duck's Blog at the Orange County Register, some of the comments are interesting. If you go and a read NHL rule 48 it appears that the hit by Ruutu is a textbook example of a violation of that rule. The rule is pretty straight forward. If the Ruutu hit on Erat was as soft as some Ducks fan s have claimed, then why is Erat going to miss game five? According to the Tennessean Martin Erat will not make the trip to Anaheim for Friday’s Game 5 and is being listed with an upper-body injury. So much for the Theory that Erat took a dive and it was a soft hit. Game, set and match.
TORONTO – Anaheim Ducks forward Jarkko Ruutu has been suspended for one game for delivering a late hit to Nashville Predators forward Martin Erat in Game Four of their Western Conference quarterfinal last night, the National Hockey League announced today.
The incident occurred 4:00 into the second period and Ruutu was assessed a minor penalty for interference on the play.
Ruutu's suspension will be served tomorrow night (April 22) when the Ducks host the Predators in Game Five of the series.
