Cale Makar Suspended For Game Five

The Colorado Avalanche will now have to play a very pivotal Game Five without their best defenseman, Cale Makar.

On Tuesday afternoon, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced a one game suspension for Makar for his hit on Jared McCann in Game Four. McCann did not return to the game and has already been ruled out of Game Five.

In the suspension video, player safety states that McCann was “in no way eligible to be checked on this play.” They also state “it is clear Makar knows he is not in possession of the puck when he decides to deliver this check.” You can watch Makar’s postgame media scrum here for his opinion on what happened.

I’m a little surprised he got suspended. I didn’t like the hit, but the refs on the ice reviewed it and even removed the major penalty call. Now the league is very publicly telling the world their refs got it wrong, even after a review.

The Kraken have given the Avalanche a very hard time, and now they will have to win Game Five without their number one defenseman. The Avalanche will now need the rest of the team to step up in his absence. Makar’s absence will be felt, but they’ve played without him a lot this season, so it is not unfamiliarity to them.

We’re set to speak to Jared Bednar here at the airport soon, so keep an eye out for his comments.