Luke Witkowski of the Detroit Red Wings had his automatic 10-game suspension upheld by the National Hockey League on Thursday, the team confirmed to ESPN.
The ban came one day after he sparked a melee between the Red Wings and the Calgary Flames near the benches in Detroit. In the third period of the Wings' 8-2 win on Wednesday night, Witkowski was given a game misconduct after a fight with Calgary's Brett Kulak. As Witkowski was walking down the runway back to the dressing rooms, Flames winger Matthew Tkachuk poked him in the leg with his stick. Witkowski spun around, walked back onto the ice to challenge Tkachuk and chaos ensued.
Everyone from players on the benches to the goaltenders got involved, resulting in 79 combined penalty minutes for the teams. Witkowski was given a total of 35 penalty minutes, including two additional misconduct penalties for violating NHL Rule 70.6, which states that any player who has been ordered to the dressing room by game officials and "returns to his bench or to the ice surface for any reason before the appropriate time, shall be assessed a game misconduct and shall be suspended automatically without pay for the next 10 games."
After the game, Witkowski said he wasn't thinking about a suspension much when he returned to the ice.
"I felt someone poke me in the back of the leg, and I guess emotions were running high," he said.
While many felt Tkachuk's poke -- which earned him a major for spearing and a game misconduct -- might have instigated the matter, the rule clearly states that there's no good reason to do what Witkowski did, so the 10-game ban was upheld. Sportsnet reported that Tkachuk will have a hearing Friday with the NHL for further discipline for his actions. Witkowski has no points in eight games for the Red Wings, skating an average of 6 minutes, 35 seconds per night.
He signed a two-year contract with the Red Wings in July 2017.