Calgary Flames forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has been suspended for the remainder of the NHL preseason and one regular-season game for a questionable hit delieverd in Tuesday's game against the Vancouver Canucks.
The incident occurred in the third period when Letourneau-Leblond ran Vancouver's Matt Clackson from behind. NHL senior vice-president of player safety Brendan Shanahan reviewed the play and issued the suspension Thursday.
Shanahan said of the play in question, "Letourneau-Leblond took a direct route toward Clackson, hit him squarely from behind into the boards and drove through the check high and hard. Clackson's back was turned toward Letourneau-Leblond well before the contact, requiring that Letourneau-Leblond avoid or minimize the check. He did neither."
Letourneau-Leblond, nicknamed PL3, was given a minor penalty by on-ice officials. He will take a $6,204.44 (U.S.) salary hit and miss four preseason games and the Flames' season opener Oct 8 against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound native of Levis, Que., was acquired by the Flames this summer in a trade with the New Jersey Devils. Calgary gave up a fifth-round pick in the 2012 entry draft.