Brendan Smith Suspension: Smith Recalled To Serve Fourth Game Of Five-Game Suspension

The Detroit Red Wings have recalled defenseman Brendan Smith from the Grand Rapids Griffins, according to Ansar Khan of MLive.com. Smith was suspended for a hit to the head on Ben Smith of the Chicago Blackhawks during a preseason game on Sept. 28, and recalling him allows him to serve one game (his fourth) of the five-game suspension when the Red Wings take on the Calgary Flames.

He was also suspended the remainder of the preseason at the time. It's likely that Smith will be sent back down to Grand Rapids to participate in a game on Saturday.

There's room on the roster since Gustav Nyquist was reassigned to the Griffins on Wednesday, following a quiet performance in his NHL debut against the Minnesota Wild. Nyquist had been brought up to try and provide an offensive spark for a Red Wings team that has now lost five straight and, at the time, had only scored four goals in their last four games.

Shortly after it was announced that Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith was suspended for his hit on Chicago Blackhawks forward Ben Smith, a video explaining the decision was released. Just as he has done with every other suspension, former Red Wing and current NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan discussed why the hit Smith made was illegal, what rule it broke and why the suspension was made. Take a look:

Shanahan explained that Brendan Smith's hit was illegal because it violated rule 48.1. This is the illegal check to the head rule, which makes all hits where the head is targeted and is the principal point of contact illegal. Shanahan said that although Ben Smith did slightly change his path, the positioning of his head did not significantly change. Based on the rules, Brendan Smith was responsible for avoiding contact to Ben Smith's head, and because he didn't, he has been suspended.

For what it's worth, Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock thinks the suspension is "a little extreme," according to Craig Custance. I'm sure Smith feels that way as well considering he didn't intentionally target Ben Smith's head and even apologized to him.

The fact of the matter is in the NHL today, all of the responsibility is on the player delivering the hit to avoid contact with the head. Because Smith was unable to do that, it's not too surprising he received a suspension that will keep him out the final three preseason games and five regular season games.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith has indeed been suspended for his hit on Chicago Blackhawks forward Ben Smith. The suspension will keep him sidelined for the final three games of the preseason, as well as five regular season games.

Because Smith is not expected to start the season with the Red Wings, there have been questions about how he will serve his suspension. ESPN's Pierre LeBrun tweeted an explanation on Friday.

Re: Brendan Smith and suspension if Wings demote him. Whether suspension is honored in the AHL is up to the AHL. But he still has to miss NHL games when and if he is ever recalled. He also loses same amount of NHL salary for NHL games missed.

I suppose one way the Red Wings could take care of the suspension now is by keeping him on the active roster for the first five games of the season. They could then send him down to the AHL once the suspension has been served, allowing him to return without any issues later in the season.

If the Red Wings immediately send him down, he won't be available until after he has spent five games on the roster. That could be problematic if a situation came about where a couple of defensemen had to miss a game, so the best option might be to have him serve the suspension at the start of the season.