Jack Johnson To Have Hearing For Illegal Hit To The Head

The NHL will hold a hearing with Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson over his illegal hit to the head on Carolina Hurricanes forward Jiri Tlusty.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets hardly need any more bad news about possibly losing players, but it looks like they’ll lose top defenseman Jack Johnson for at least a game or two thanks to Johnson’s illegal hit against Carolina Hurricanes forward Jiri Tlusty on Tuesday night in Carolina’s win. The

NHL

has summoned him for a hearing and that’s never a good thing for the player involved.

You can see the hit below and judge for yourself, but it looks like a pretty clear case of targeting the head. In 1999, that hit would make the Top Ten on Sportscenter. Now it’s at least a two game suspension. Johnson has not been suspended by the league before, so he shouldn’t have to serve much more than that.

Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson will have a hearing this afternoon for an illegal check to the head of Carolina forward Jiri Tlusty.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 5, 2014

The Blue Jackets are currently mired in a six-game losing streak and are already missing a large chunk of their starting corps. Now they stand to lose their leader in minutes played this season. Jack Johnson averages nearly 24 minutes per game and the team is already without defenseman James Wisniewski, who averaged 21 minutes per game before leaving with injury.

The team will look to get back on track with or without Johnson when they visit these same Carolina Hurricanes once more on Friday night.

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