Detroit Red Wings

No Penalty? Red Wings’ Hronek Injured by Headshot from Ryan Reaves

Published

1 year ago

December 14, 2022

Bob Duff

Detroit Red Wings, Filip Hronek hit by Ryan Reaves

Already riddled by injury, the Detroit Red Wings quickly were adding another absence to their list in the first period of Thursday’s road game against the Minnesota Wild, defenseman Filip Hronek was suffering what very well might be a concussion.

He was felled by a punishing hit from Wild forward Ryan Reaves. Carrying the puck out of the Detroit zone, Hronek looked to his left. By the time his focus returned to what was in front of him, Hronek was crushed at the blueline by a high hit from Reaves.

oh my good lord ryan reaves pic.twitter.com/2MjgsPW2tz

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) December 15, 2022

Replays were clearly displaying that Reaves caught Hronek in the head when he connected with him. However, after huddling, the four game officials detemined that the check warranted no penalty. Reaves has been previously suspended by the NHL on three separate occasions during his NHL career.

The Detroit defenseman went immediately to the dressing room and hasn’t returned to the game. Early in the second period, the Red Wings were announcing that Hronek wont be returning to the game.

Hronek Enjoying Banner Season

A long-term loss of Hronek would be another devastating blow to the already short-staffed Red Wings.

Detroit started the game without captain Dylan Larkin. He was hurt while blocking a shot with his right hand during Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Rookie Elmer Soderblom was recalled to replace Larkin on the roster.

Also missing from the Red Wings lineup are forwards Tyler Bertuzzi (upper body), Filip Zadina (lower body), Robby Fabbri (knee surgery), Matt Luff (upper body) and Jakub Vrana (personal) and defenseman Olli Maatta (illness).

Hronek has been nothing short of outstanding for the Red Wings this season. He leads all Detroit defensemen with 6-18-24 totals. That’s good for third on the team in scoring.

He also shares the club lead in plus-minus with Maatta at +11. The Czech defender has collected 16 points over the past 15 games. He’s recorded six multi-point games during that span. Hronek also posted a six-game point streak during which he accounted for 6-4-10 numbers.