On Friday night against the Winnipeg Jets, Daniel Carcillo took a bit of a run at Jets forward Mathieu Perreault and got him in the arm with a cross check. That cross check will cost the Blackhawks winger his next six games, as the league announced the suspension for the forward with a checkered past.
You can see the hit here.
“Checkered” is probably a gross understatement. Carcillo has a history of this type of thing, which is why it was such a large question when Stan Bowman decided to bring him back during training camp, even at the minimal salary which he is being paid. He spent the majority of the year quietly skating through and not causing much of a fuss, but this is certainly Carcillo’s MO.
Just when you think he’s cleaned it up, he does something like this again. Carcillo could have gotten more for his cross check of Perreault, as he simply took a skater that was in a vulnerable position along the boards, and got him with a shot that was completely unnecessary. There was an initial fear that Perreault had suffered a broken arm as a result of the hit, but luckily that wasn’t the case. That’s obviously positive news for Perreault, but also Carcillo, as a legitimate injury likely would have cost Carcillo more games.
It’d be somewhat surprising to see Carcillo hit the ice with the Blackhawks again this season. Those six games means that the next action Carcillo can see would be on February 3rd, against the Minnesota Wild. It’s important to acknowledge, though, that Kris Versteeg’s timetable for a return could have him back in the mix at that point. With Teuvo Teravainen looking ready to break out, and Joakim Nordstrom providing, arguably, more upside than Carcillo, will there even be room for him at that point?
The bottom line is this: Carcillo didn’t serve much of a purpose in the lineup. He was just a body. He didn’t deter anybody from doing anything. He didn’t hurt the Hawks on the ice like he was prone to do, but he didn’t add anything of significance either. The six games are well deserved for an unnecessary shot to a vulnerable player, and the suspension should call into question Carcillo’s future with the Blackhawks, and the league as a whole, more than it already was.
Randy Holt is a staff writer for Second City Hockey. You can follow him on Twitter @RandallPnkFloyd.