Ference Suspended For Three Games

EDM D Andrew Ference has been suspended 3 games for an illegal check to the head of VAN F Zack Kassian. Video: http://t.co/Kg3N0UlqZI

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 3, 2014

News from the Department of Player Safety this morning: Andrew Ference has been suspended three games for his hit on Zack Kassian on Saturday night. This is the exact suspension length that I predicted yesterday, I assume my prize is in the mail.

The video explanation makes it clear that the NHL saw this hit the same way most of us did and how Derek described it yesterday, that Ference elevates when throwing the hit and makes Kassian's head the main point of contact. Kassian is more of a bag of trash than an NHL player, but that doesn't make it okay for Ference to be reckless when throwing a hit. It's pretty clear he intended to lay Kassian out, and maybe he just mistimed the hit slightly, but the end result is that he'll sit out for three games.