George Parros' Top 10 Biggest Suspensions!
| Date | Player | Team | Offense | Games | Notes | Player Reputation |
| 1 | September 30, 2018 | Tom Wilson | Washington Capitals | Illegal check to the head of Oskar Sundqvist. | 20 games | Suspension later reduced to 14 games. | Wilson had previously been suspended 3 times, totalling 9 games, and was considered a Repeat Offender. Wilson was second in PIM on the season. |
| 2 | November 16, 2017 | Radko Gudas | Philadelphia Flyers | Slashing Mathieu Perreault. | 10 games | | Gudas had previously been suspended 2 times, totalling 9 games, and was considered a Repeat Offender. |
| 3 | February 6, 2018 | Alex Burrows | Ottawa Senators | Serving as the aggressor in an altercation & kneeing Taylor Hall. | 10 games | Suspension covered two incidents in the same game. | Burrows had previously been suspended 1 time, totalling 3 games, and fined twice. |
| 4 | May 19, 2021 | Nazem Kadri | Colorado Avalanche | Illegal check to the head of Justin Faulk. | 8 games | 8 post-season games. | Kadri had previously been suspended 5 times, totalling 19 games, and fined once. |
| 5 | March 5, 2021 | Tom Wilson | Washington Capitals | Boarding Brandon Carlo. | 7 games | | Wilson had previously been suspended 4 times, totalling 23 games. Wilson was first in PIM on the season. |
| 6 | February 13, 2020 | Zack Kassian | Edmonton Oilers | Kicking Erik Cernak. | 7 games | | Kassian had previously been suspended 3 times, totalling 10 games, and was considered a Repeat Offender. |
| 7 | December 9, 2023 | David Perron | Detroit Red Wings | Cross-checking Artem Zub. | 6 games | | Perron had previously been fined once. |
| 7 | December 23, 2017 | Zac Rinaldo | Arizona Coyotes | Punching an unsuspecting Samuel Girard. | 6 games | | Rinaldo had previously been suspended 4 times, totalling 19 games, and fined twice. |
| 9 | February 8, 2022 | Brad Marchand | Boston Bruins | Roughing & high-sticking Tristan Jarry. | 6 games | Suspension covered two incidents in the same game. | Marchand had previously been suspended 7 times, totalling 22 games, and fined five times, and was considered a Repeat Offender. |
| 10 | December 5, 2021 | Jason Spezza | Toronto Maple Leafs | Kneeing Neal Pionk. | 6 games | Suspension later reduced to 4 games. | Spezza had no prior record of supplemental discipline. Spezza was a six time nominee for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. |
| ? | February 10, 2024 | Morgan Rielly | Toronto Maple Leafs | Cross-checking Ridly Greig. | ??? | Offered in-person hearing (6 or more games possible). | Rielly has no prior record of supplemental discipline. Rielly is a two time nominee for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. |
Off-ice and automatic suspensions were not included in the list.
Post-season games are typically considered worth more than a regular season game.
A Repeat Offender is defined as having been suspended within the 18 months prior.
While PIM and Lady Byng nominations have no effect in supplemental discipline, it paints a slight picture of the reputation of the player at the time of the incident.
Two of these names stick out like sore thumbs, imo.
The next biggest suspension that matches Rielly's reputation (or Spezza's) would be Mark Schiefele, who would rank 17th on the list (not counting Rielly) for a 4 game suspension (3 post-season games) with no prior record of supplemental discipline and three "gentlemanly" nominations.
While an in-person hearing means Rielly
can be suspended 6 or more games, it does not mean he has to be. It could still be 4 or 5, or technically, even with an in-person hearing they could slap him with just a fine, or give him no(!) discipline; the in-person hearing just gives them more options. That said, following Perron's similar suspension this season (retaliatory cross-check to the head, while sitting on a fairly clean record), my prediction is 6 games for Rielly, tying him for 7th in Parros' biggest suspensions.
