Breaking: Erik Karlsson facing a suspension for illegal hit to the head.

It sounds like San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson has landed himself in some hot water.

According to an official report from the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety the league has scheduled a hearing for Karlsson following his illegal check to the head of Los Angeles Kings rookie Austin Wagner. The league reports that the hearing will take place tomorrow and this appears to be an over the phone hearing so don't expect a major suspension, no surprise given Karlsson's status in the league.

The incident occurred in the opening moments of the game's 2nd period when Erik Karlsson lined up Wagner for a big open ice hit. Karlsson found his man and leveled Wagner with a big body check and in real time it seemed like a relatively normal hit in the middle of the ice. It was clear however from the moment that Wagner attempted to get back to his feet that not all was well with the 21 year old rookie, and in fact he looked like he was completely out of it as he tried to maintain his balance on his skates. 

Upon watching the video replay in slow motion it became exceedingly clear that Karlsson's hit had made significant head contact with Wagner's head on the play, something that would explain the seemingly drunken state that Wagner found himself in following the hit. Wagner would quickly leave the game after spending just a few short seconds back on the King's bench and as of this writing the team has not provide an update on his status other than to say he would not return.

The problem that Karlsson is going to have here is that this very much appeared to be an act motivated by revenge. Wagner had taken a run at Karlsson earlier on the play and the resulting hit from Karlsson makes it look like he was out to try and teach the young rookie a lesson. I obviously can not know whether or not Karlsson intended to catch Wagner up high, but it likely won't matter very much given the optics of how this all looks after the fact. 

I full expect he will be suspended here, although I expect it will be a relatively short one.

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