Detroit Red Wings' David Perron: Six-game suspension 'pretty excessive'

David Perron explained his side of things to reporters, three days after doing so surrounded by lawyers.

Friday marked Perron's return to the Detroit Red Wings' lineup after serving a six-game suspension for crosschecking Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub in a game on Dec. 9.

It was an ugly visual: Perron raising his stick and hitting Zub hard enough that he fell to the ice, but it wasn't isolated. Perron had just witnessed his captain, Dylan Larkin, unconscious on the ice after a scrum in which he took contact from two Senators players.

"I'm just coming in there and trying to stick up for Dylan," Perron said. "You see him, kind of on my second look there, you see him motionless, not moving at all there. Definitely not easy for me to go through that, to turn around and see our captain down on the ice."

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Larkin had been hit in the back of the head by Mathieu Joseph, and crosschecked by Parker Kelly. They each received minors for roughing

"You're trying to respond to these types of incidents," Perron said. "Obviously, I got the guy a little high. I understand that there was some discipline that needed to be done there. It just felt like on my side, it was pretty excessive for the comparables, the history, my career —  a lot of things really."

Zub was not involved, and Perron admitted he got the wrong guy.

"I would not have just randomly jumped someone," Perron said. "When you see me looking back the second time around, he's kind of got one knee down, he's between Larks, on top of Larks, kind of. Honestly, usually when these scrums when they happen, it's almost like it's a five-on-five thing. It happens really quickly in your head and you're trying to respond accordingly and the right away.

"It didn't turn out too good. I could understand something needed to happen there, but it just felt like six (games) was way too many."

Officials immediately called a 5-minute major on Perron, enabling them to review the incident on video. Ultimately they assessed him a game misconduct, which triggered a review by the NHL. The department of player safety, headed by former player George Parros, handed Perron a six-game suspension, the first of his NHL career.

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Perron appealed the suspension, leading to a hearing on Dec. 19 — five games into the suspension — with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Parros and multiple lawyers on one side and Perron, his agent, Allan Walsh, general manager Steve Yzerman and multiple lawyers on the other.

"There's some frustration with the process," Perron said, "but at same time you have to respect the precedent that it creates for the NHL (Players Association) and then you flip it on the NHL's side. I respect that Gary took the time to meet with me, as well as Billy Daly; all the lawyers on our side, Steve flew out with me, my agent. There were like 10-15 people there. George Parros was there.

"We talked for 3 hours. It was an official appeal, it needed to be serious, we took it very seriously. We hope a result comes out of it and it makes more sense."

Perron flew to Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Wednesday morning in the hopes of maybe being able to play that night for the Wings, but when he spoke Friday morning around 11: 30 a.m., Bettman still had not issued a decision. At best Perron may be able to recoup some of the $148,437.48 he forfeited during the suspension. The next layer after a hearing before Bettman is before an independent arbitrator.

"Right now, it's more for record and money," Perron said. "But that's what is disappointing for sure. On Steve's side, the organization, Chris Ilitch — you want to be there for the team to play your games."

The incident unfolded with 6:10 to play in the first period. Zub didn't miss a shift, and played more than 20 minutes.

With that in mind, Perron said he didn't pursue reaching out to Zub.

"Not directly to him," Perron said. "I feel like because there was no injury — I did not, no.

"I'm not going in there trying to get him in the head, let's be honest," Perron said. "I'm not trying to injury anybody on a personal level. I missed close to two seasons worth of games with head, neck, concussion, all that stuff. You're trying to be physical, you're trying to play the right way, you're trying to win the game. Doesn't mean I'm not trying to hurt a guy. I never want to do that."

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.

Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' David Perron: 6-game suspension 'pretty excessive'