Blake Coleman will face a Player Safety hearing for hit on Jansen Harkins

On Wednesday night, Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman turned a rather mundane exhibition game against the Winnipeg Jets into a more spirited affair due to throwing some hits. For his trouble, and a borderline hit to a vulnerable Jansen Harkins, he’ll be facing a Player Safety hearing on Thursday.

In the second period, Coleman was battling along the boards for the puck. Harkins lost his footing and fell to his knees and Coleman kept battling, throwing a hit to Harkins while he was kneeling and had his back to the play as he tried to regain his footing.

Understandably, the Jets and the officials took umbrage. Coleman was given a minor penalty for baording and continued to battle with the Jets all evening, eventually getting a 10-minute misconduct penalty from the officials as the men in stripes attempted to calm things down a tad in the third period.

Harkins wasn’t injured on the play and Coleman’s physicality gave the Flames an emotional lift, but that’s a hit you don’t want to see anybody throw given the potential for serious injury with players in vulnerable positions along the boards.

Given similar hits in the recent past, this seems like a situation where Coleman (who has no history of supplemental discipline) gets a stern lecture and a fine as a warning against future hits of this nature. But we’ll see what Player Safety decides.