Max Domi Handed Five Game Suspension for Ekblad Sucker Punch

Montreal Canadien Max Domi has been suspended for five games after an incident on Wednesday against Florida Panther Aaron Ekblad[/caption]

It took only one game playing for the Montreal Canadiens for Max Domi to get out of control and get suspended. Clearly, Domi learned little watching his Father, Tie Domi on the ice, at least when it comes to playing by the rules.

The result of Domi’s cowardly sucker punch against Aaron Ekblad on Wednesday saw the Department of Player Safety handing Domi a five-game suspension that will see the center sitting out until the regular season.

The Montreal Canadiens now will turn to Nick Suzuki to fill the void left by the suspension, and if Claude Julien is going to find out what Suzuki is capable, it will be now as he will either swim or sink.

Suzuki will join Joel Armia and Jonathan Drouin for at least one of the remaining pre-season games, and if all goes well, he might play all four. The first of those is tonight in Quebec City against the Washington Capitals.

Domi’s suspension also eliminates Coach Julien from properly evaluating Domi’s abilities at center ice, and will now have to do so during practice whether to see if Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin and Domi are able to develop chemistry together on the ice.

Montreal’s Max Domi suspended for the remainder of the preseason for roughing Florida’s Aaron Ekblad. https://t.co/OoZ1wP0Sv5

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) September 20, 2018

Max Domi has spent the majority of his NHL career with the Arizona Coyotes as a winger, and not having the chance to get in sync with his new team is not going to help, especially if he continues to lose his temper on the ice, rack up penalty minutes and compromise the Canadiens scoring opportunities.

However, for the Canadiens, one door closed, and another opened. The door that opened will put the spotlight on Nick Suzuki, who was acquired in the deal that saw Max Pacioretty being traded to the Golden Knights. Suzuki has a solid performance in Wednesday night’s game and was to join in with Nikita Scherbak and Paul Byron before a last-minute swap that saw him joining Alexandre Grenier and Kenny Agostino.

Montreal Coach, Claude Julien commented about the decision saying,

“I think in tonight’s case it was obvious enough that we were playing against a very experienced group, When you have Barkov and Trochek as your top two centres, I think I had to make a change because it’s obvious enough to me it would’ve been far too much for Suzuki to handle.”

The explanation given by Julien was a logical one, and the right one given it was Suzuki’s first game. Suzuki, who hails from London, Ontario, has a solid track record from his days with the Owen Sound Attack, and the next few games will be his chance to show what he can do. Julien added that Suzuki is young and working to get use to playing at this level. Julian, while speaking after Wednesday’s game added,

“He’s a young guy who’s trying to habituate himself to play at this level. We see he has good abilities. He has very good vision and he can make good plays. But, at the same time, I think he’s another young player who needs to get a little bit stronger and he needs to get used to the speed of the game up here.”

Giving him a chance so early may not have been in the cards, especially with the Canadiens top wingers. However, with Domi on suspension, the opportunity presented itself, and Julian ran with it.

“He was very good tonight. There’s a lot of good things to work with for him. But just like all young players there’s things to work on, too. He needs to acclimate to the speed of this game because it’s a lot faster than junior hockey.”

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