Big Ten Suspends Wisconsin Badger Cobin McGuire For Hit On Connor Reilly

The Big Ten has levied an additional punishment for Wisconsin Badgers forward Corbin McGuire:

ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference office announced today that Wisconsin hockey student-athlete Corbin McGuire has been suspended for one game, under the conference's supplemental discipline process, as a result of an incident that occurred in a game against Minnesota on Jan. 31.

The action was taken by the conference after a review of an incident that occurred near the 2:59 mark of the second period and resulted in the player receiving a major penalty for kneeing. McGuire is ineligible to play in Wisconsin's next game on Feb. 6 against Penn State.

The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment.

The hit could be a very costly one for the Gophers, as the initial word on Connor Reilly wasn't good:

Lucia said he expects his leading goal-scorer and redshirt sophomore forward to be out for a while, adding that "Those are career injuries. You stick out a knee and go knee-on-knee with guys. You talk about wanting to clean up our game and that's just a bad, bad play."

The officials reviewed the play and tagged Badgers forward Corbin McGuire with a five-minute kneeing penalty after his collision with Reilly early in the second period. Lucia wanted much more for what he felt was a cheap shot. Reilly struggled to get up after the contact and gingerly skated to the bench. He eventually left for the locker room and didn't return to the game.

This is especially worrisome given Connor's history with knee injuries. It's too late to help Connor or the Gophers, but this was still the right move by the Big Ten.

Video via @AndyJohnsonB5Q

@AndyJohnsonB5Q