NHL drops the hammer on Avalanche D Cale Makar

If the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche are to re-take the lead in their Round 1 postseason series against the Seattle Kraken, they'll have to do so without their most valuable member of the blue line. 

Defenseman Cale Makar has been suspended by the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety for the upcoming Game 5 of the series as punishment for his blatant interference on Kraken forward Jared McCann during the 1st period of last night's Game 4 at Climate Pledge Arena.

For those who may not have seen it, here is the play in question. Makar chased McCann into the corner following the latter's breakaway attempt and crushed him into the boards. McCann was injured and did not return to the game, and will not be playing in Game 5.

The Avalanche are already without the services of Russian forward Valeri  Nichushkin for potentially the remainder of the 2023 postseason due to a personal issue stemming from an alleged incident at the team hotel in Seattle.