Lake suspended for Kneeing

Giants forward receives suspension

On Friday night in Belfast, Belfast forward #9 Ben Lake made knee-on-knee contact with Guildford Flames forward #14 Sean Norris.

Norris, skating down the left-hand side, engaged with Belfast’s #77 Josh Roach, beating Roach to a loose puck and spinning back up the boards, facing the neutral zone. As he spins back, Lake lines him up for a body check at the harsh marks. Sensing pressure, Norris shifts to his left attempting to avoid the contact. Now at risk of missing the hit, Lake makes his lower body bigger by extending his knee forward and into Norris recklessly causing a leg-on-leg collision. This is Kneeing.

It is important to note that this is not a case in which the player receiving the hit creates an unavoidable knee-on-knee impact. Lake adjusts to Norris’s movement by extending his knee forward, ensuring contact is made. While we acknowledge knee-on-knee contact can happen in legal body checks, in this situation Lake makes no upper body contact and all contact is made through the lower body. 

To Summarise:

• This is Kneeing

Effective immediately is fined and suspended for one game.