2:51 p.m.: Geekie has been suspended for one preseason game, the league announced. He’ll be eligible to play on opening night if he makes the team.
9:05 a.m.: If Lightning prospect Conor Geekie cracks the opening night roster, he may still have to wait to make his NHL debut. The pivot is facing a suspension today for violating league Rule 70.2, which prohibits leaving the bench “on a legal line change for the purpose of starting an altercation,” the Department of Player Safety announced.
Midway through the second period of last night’s overtime loss to the Panthers, Geekie started a shift and immediately laid a hit on and subsequently fought Florida forward prospect Josh Davies. Geekie wasn’t tossed from the game, but he was given a total of 19 PIMs on the play – a 10-minute instigator misconduct, a fighting major, an instigator minor, and a cross-checking minor.
The altercation shortly followed a hit that Davies laid on Lightning captain Victor Hedman that violated no league roles and wasn’t penalized, although it did immediately draw the ire of Tampa star Nikita Kucherov, who attempted to drag Davies down to the ice during play immediately following the hit (video via Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times).
As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman points out, Geekie isn’t facing the automatic 10-game suspension levied for leaving the bench to join an active fight. Previous suspensions for violations of Rule 70.2 range from one to two games. The Lightning have two preseason games left on their schedule, so Geekie may be back for the season opener, although the league may up the suspension slightly to compensate for the much weaker punishment of being barred from exhibition play.
Geekie, 20, was the 11th overall pick in the 2022 draft by the Coyotes. After his entry-level contract was transferred to Utah, they traded him to the Bolts in this offseason’s Mikhail Sergachev blockbuster. He lit up the WHL last year for 99 points in just 55 games split between the Wenatchee Wild and Swift Current Broncos.
CG has that fire in him man. Remember the hit that got him suspended from the juniors or whatever that tourney was? I honestly like it, but I hope he can get the reins on it enough to avoid not being able to play cause he’s got a lot of great talent too. Can’t rely on the league to keep it fair as they’re about as unbiased as promise.
John Davies got his clock knocked within seconds by Conor Geekie in the fight. Davies was down & hurting after that. Davies really irked Tampa with the hard hit to Victor Hedman. For Nikita Kucherov to drop the gloves, that says it all.
What’s funny is Brandon Hagel was the one who intended to go after Davies but Geekie said he’ll handle it before they got on the ice. Geekie earned the respect of the locker room as his teammates know they can count on him to stick up for them & vice versa. Tampa’s locker room is known for being close-knit group.
FREE MY MAN
Did anyone from Florida go after Kucherov for the horsecollar tackle on an unsuspecting player who had just delivered a clean hit? Little respect for them if they did not.
It was an open ice it, which is legal but is frowned among players throughout the league because it’s an endangerment to the unexpected hit player (in this case, Hedman) as player’s have gotten seriously injured from such hits. It’s old school hockey. To answer your question, however, no Florida players went after Kucherov. Florida & every team really knows if a player does such a hit there will be ramifications from the team whose player took the dangerous hit. Simply put, Davies got what he deserved. If you’re going to play with fire, expect to get burned.
I could not disagree with this take more. A clean open ice hit is not considered dangerous. If the Lightning want to take exception to it, that’s fine. And props to Davies for fighting later on. But it’s pretty ridiculous that guys someone has to answer for a clean hit. The only reason I’d be upset is because it’s a minor league guy hitting an NHL player. But in the regular season, it is something no one should have to answer for. If they don’t want to get hit in open ice, don’t carry the puck through open ice.
An open ice hit is fine but what Davies did to Hedman was a blindsided hit which is dangerous as Hedman couldn’t defend or set himself up for it. Hedman could have gotten a critical injury from it. It’s a PRE-season game for Pete sakes. Hits like that are uncalled for at this stage. Also props to Davies for fighting?…The dude try to avoid it. Geekie pretty much forced it & knocked the snot out of him. Davies didn’t even get a hit. If Davies is going to do things like that, he better get used to harsh retaliations from opponents especially rivals like Tampa who are not afraid to retaliate aggressively. Just sayin…
I agree there’s a lot of guys across the league right now who don’t need to be throwing massive hits in exhibition games. But again I just think it’s foolish to need answer for clean hits. A hit being blindside doesn’t mean the player throwing the hit has any onus on them. That was a textbook hit. He timed it perfectly. The fact that Hedman couldn’t defend himself has more to do with the suicide pass that his teammate set him up for.