The NHL has suspended Vancouver Canucks defenceman Tucker Poolman two games for swinging his stick at an opponent. 



The incident happened Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche when Avs forward Kiefer Sherwood laid a check on Poolman. The defenseman retaliated by turning his body and hitting Sherwood in the head with his stick. 



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> defender Tucker Poolman gets a match penalty for… whacking <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoAvsGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoAvsGo</a> Kiefer Sherwood in the head with his stick. <a href="https://t.co/boCjg6fbJ7">pic.twitter.com/boCjg6fbJ7</a>— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/PuckReportNHL/status/1459012400720535553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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This is not a hockey play. This is an intentional and retaliatory stick swing that strikes an opponent directly in the head, and such actions cannot be excused,” the league said in announcing the suspension.



Poolman was assessed a match penalty for intent to injure, a call that carries an automatic suspension. 


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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at<a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"> @zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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Canucks defenseman Tucker Poolman suspended two games for stick-swinging incident