The NHL’s department of player safety intends to meet with Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk to discuss his recent suspensions, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.
The meeting would be in a one-on-one format, likely with former NHL forward Ray Whitney, who recently joined the department.
“They’ve done this in the past with players,” Johnston said during Saturday night’s Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada. “The goal of that meeting is to show [Tkachuk] a little bit where the line is.
“They would sit down with him and show him some positive videos, some negative videos, and say, ‘Look we don’t mind you playing on the edge, but you have to know where that line is,'” Johnston added. “They hope with a face-to-face meeting, it can reinforce the message sent with those suspensions.”
Tkachuk was suspended this week for the third time in his 104-game career. The 19-year-old was handed a one-gamer for jabbing Toronto Maple Leafs winger Matt Martin with his stick while standing on the players’ bench. Last month he was also hit with a one-game suspension for a similar incident in which he jabbed Luke Witkowski after the Detroit Red Wings player already left the ice surface.
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