Columbus Blue Jackets’ captain Nick Foligno suspended 3 games for elbowing

The NHL has suspended Columbus Blue Jackets’ captain Nick Foligno for his elbow to the head of Colorado Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without captain Nick Foligno for the next week, as the NHL has suspended the forward three games for elbowing. Foligno caught Colorado Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the head with an elbow during their game on Saturday.

Foligno will be able to return to the ice for the Blue Jackets on Thursday, Nov. 21 against the Detroit Red Wings. He will miss games between the Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues during his suspension.

In the second period of the Blue Jackets’ game against the Avalanche, Foligno caught Bellemare in the head with his elbow on a hit. Bellemare had gotten rid of the puck by the time Foligno hit him with his elbow, and the Avalanche forward crumpled to the ice after the hit.

Foligno was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for the hit, on which Bellemare was diagnosed with a concussion after the game.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety released a video on Foligno’s suspension and their reasoning behind the three-game knock. In the video, the NHL states that Foligno was “in control” of his actions and the hit was “an attempted body check and cannot be classified as excusable or accidental contact.” The onus, the NHL stated, was on Foligno to change his path to Bellemare in order to make a legal body check.

Foligno owned up to the hit after the game, saying he “felt sick” to his stomach upon seeing the replay.

“There was no intent to hit him like that at all,” He said. “I’m trying to line him up at the time and then he kind of turns back and makes that play. It just happens so fast and I felt sick to my stomach when I saw that I hit him in the head.”

The suspension is Foligno’s first of his NHL career. The 32-year-old forward has six points in 17 games played for the Blue Jackets this season.