AHL suspends Manitoba Moose forward for illegal hit

Manitoba Moose forward Mike Sgarbossa has been suspended two games by the AHL for a high cross-check he delivered during Saturday’s loss to the Iowa Wild.

Sgarbossa committed the infraction with less than five minutes to play in the first period of the game. He cross-checked Kyle Rau twice, cutting the Wild forward. Sgarbossa was handed a five-minute major penalty for the illegal hit and was ejected from the game.

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The suspension will cause Sgarbossa to miss Manitoba’s home games on Friday and Saturday against the Texas Stars. Moose head coach Pascal Vincent was surprised at the length of the discipline.

“I was expecting maybe a game but they decided two,” Vincent said. “We’ll roll with the hit.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I was expecting maybe a game but they decided two," Vincent said. "We'll roll with the hit."

Sgarbossa joined the Moose after being cut by the Winnipeg Jets during training camp. In 39 AHL games this season, the 25-year-old has 11 goals, 16 assists and 68 penalty minutes.