.The NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Calgary Flames defensemen Mark Giordano has been suspended for two game. This is his first career suspension.
Calgary’s Mark Giordano has been suspended for two games for kneeing Minnesota’s Mikko Koivu. https://t.co/771Qz2CB0z
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 8, 2018
Mark Giordano Suspended
Mark Giordano has been suspended for two games for an incident with Minnesota Wild center Mikko Koivu. Giordano applied a knee on knee hit on center Mikko Koivu. He will forfeit $72,580.64 of his salary.
Giordano has scored three goals and 26 assists for 29 points so far this season. He also has added 22 penalty minutes. His possession numbers were 57 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of +4.8 percent.
The Toronto native has only played for the Calgary Flames in his 13-year NHL career. He has put up 115 goals and 292 assists for 407 career points in 784 career games.
DPOS was busy with Calgary as Ryan Lomberg was suspended for one game and coach Bill Peters was fined $10,000 for another incident that occurred at the end of Thursday’s game.
What This Means for the Future
The Department of Players Safety’s penalty mean the Flames will be without their capain for two games. The Giordano suspension is a huge loss for a Flames team who is currently leading the Pacific division. Giordano currently leads the Flames is assists and power-play assists for the Flames.
Noah Hanifin will most likely be tasked with picking up top-line minutes for the Flames. Hanifin has three goals and 10 assists in his first season with the Flames. He was traded to Calgary from the Carolina Hurricanes in June. This also comes at a bad time for the Flames as they already have two defensemen as both Michael Stone and Jusso Valimaki are out with injuries. There’s no return date for either player as of yet.
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – MARCH 11: Mark Giordano #5 of the Calgary Flames celebrates Michael Frolik‘s goal against the Winnipeg Jets during NHL action on March 11, 2017 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images)
