Hatcher Suspended for Three Games

The National Hockey League announced on Tuesday the suspension of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Derian Hatcher for the first three games of a 2004-05 regular season following an incident in Game Six of Detroit’s second round series with the Calgary Flames on May 3.

In the first period of the game, which the Flames won to eliminate the Red Wings from the playoffs, Hatcher elbowed Calgary forward Matthew Lombardi in the head. Lombardi stayed in the game but missed Games One and Two of the Flames’ Western Conference Finals series with the San Jose Sharks. No penalty was called on the play.

It is the second suspension to arise from the Detroit-Calgary series. Calgary’s Ville Nieminen was suspended for one game after skating out of his way to elbow Detroit goaltender Curtis Joseph in the closing seconds of Game Four.

Hatcher missed most of the 2003-04 season, his first with the Red Wings, with a torn ACL suffered in only the third game of the season.