Alabama Huntsville senior forward Brennan Saulnier was suspended for two games by the WCHA for his illegal hit to a Minnesota State player's head during Saturday's hockey game at the Verizon Center, the league announced on Monday afternoon.
With 30 seconds remaining in the game, Saulnier elbowed MSU freshman Dallas Gerads, who lay on the ice for several minutes before getting assisted out of the rink. Mavericks coach Mike Hastings said Gerads was "not healthy" and likely had a concussion.
Saulnier received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for contact to the head but not a game disqualification, which comes with an automatic one-game suspension. The WCHA reviewed the play and on Monday determined that the hit warranted a two-game ban.
Saunier will miss the Chargers games Dec. 29-30 at Bemidji State. It is the third supplementary-discipline suspension of Saulnier's college career.
Saulnier has received one other suspension due to a game DQ for fighting last season. Over his 3+ seasons he has received eight game misconducts that coupled with major penalties, including Saturday's, according to an examination of box scores on collegehockeystats.net. The infractions have included contact to the head (3), checking/hitting from behind (3), charging (1) and roughing (1).
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