NHL reacts to Leafs’ Pierre Engvall whacking Sean Durzi in the head!

He had to know he was going to hear back from the National Hockey League’ Player Safety. On Friday morning, the department announced that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Pierre Engvall will have a hearing today for High-sticking Los Angeles’ Sean Durzi.

During his Maple Leafs’ 5-0 shutout win over the Kings, Engvall seemed to intentionally whack Durzi in the back of the head in the third period. He was assessed a five-minute major penalty for his intentional high stick and was tossed for the remainder of the contest. Durzi appeared uninjured and stayed in the game.

After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe came to his player’s defence, but it didn’t have an impact on the NHL’s decision to call him in for a hearing.

“You’ve all watched Pierre [Engvall] play for long enough now to know he doesn’t play with an intent to injure.”

Let’s see how how Keefe’s argument weighs into the league’s decision to suspend or fine Engvall later today.