Kyle Clifford to have a phone interview for the hit on Ross Colton

Toronto’s Kyle Clifford will have a hearing today for Boarding Tampa Bay’s Ross Colton.

At the time of the hit, Clifford received a five-minute penalty for boarding and a game misconduct. In general, the game misconduct carries some weight in a hearing as a kind of “time served”. The option is open for the Department of Player Safety to levy a fine, a suspension or take no further action.

There is nothing forcing player safety to count playoff suspensions as more punitive, but it seems like they sometimes do that.