Update: Geekie has been suspended for one preseason game.
Original Post:
Conor Geekie has yet to play an official game in the NHL, but will have his first meeting with the league’s Player Safety Department following his actions in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night. Specifically, Rule 70.2 is being cited which states that a player is prohibited from leaving the bench on a legal line change for the purpose of starting an altercation.
The “altercation” came between Geekie and Panthers’ forward Josh Davis following a hit that Davis landed on Lightning captain Victor Hedman. Later in the game, Geekie jumped off the bench and headed directly for the 20-year-old sixth-round draft pick.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s Heddy or whoever it is. I think anyone gets hit like that, someone has to step up and I figured I could be that guy,” is how Geekie described the situation after the game. The youngster was assessed 19 minutes worth of penalties (2 for cross-checking, 2 for instigating, 5 for fighting, and a 10-minute misconduct).
So, what is the outcome for Geekie after his meeting? Chances are he’ll be suspended for a game or two. It’s not likely to be an automatic 10-game suspension for leaving the bench to join a fight since Geekie did hop on during a normal line change. According to Elliotte Friedman, previous instances like this have resulted in one or two game suspensions. The Lightning have two preseason games left on the schedule, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he misses out on both of them (and possibly one regular season game if he makes the team).
As for the hit that sparked the whole interaction, honestly, it was a clean hit. Obviously, the Lightning didn’t like it that their captain took a big hit in a meaningless game, but this is hockey and contact happens.
As Geekie mentioned in his post-game comments, it if he didn’t challenge Davis, someone else on the team would have. In the clip above, Nikita Kucherov, took immediate dislike to the play as he horse-collared Davis to the ice. Kucherov was penalized on the play while the hit itself didn’t result in any discipline (nor should it have). Unlike a similar hit on Tim Stutzle by Arber Xhekaj earlier in the week, this hit wasn’t late or anywhere near the head. Davis is a young kid trying to make the team and he had the opportunity to separate Hedman from the puck, which he did.
If Geekie had a little more experience, he probably would have handled it differently and not made a straight beeline for Davis when he left the bench. A quick circle around the ice and then a challenge to him before dropping the gloves would have avoided this whole mess. Then it would have just been a routine preseason fight between a Panther and a Bolt, a fall tradition dating back to the 1990s.
In the long run, this isn’t a really big deal, but in the short term it could hurt Geekie’s chances of making the team. Following the game Coach Cooper talked about his top prospect and mentioned there are still some areas where he might not be quite NHL-ready. With the possibility of two fewer games to show the coaching staff that they’re wrong, Geekie could end up in Syracuse to start the season to improve on the aspects of the game that need work.
