Max Domi has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason following what the NHLPA is calling “roughing” on Aaron Ekblad Wednesday night.
The term more people are taking to is “sucker punch,” though that doesn’t quite feel accurate either. Here’s the entire sequence of events:
Whether or not that squarely fits into the box definition of a sucker punch also feels a bit irrelevant. Domi punched an unwilling participant with an ungloved fist. That’s more than just roughing — it’s dangerous, even without Ekblad’s history with concussions.
But his punishment is to sit for the rest of the preseason.