Canucks captain Quinn Hughes ejected for making dangerous hit against close friend

With over two thirds of the game still remaining, Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes was ejected from Saturday's game against the Ottawa Senators and assessed a five-minute major penalty for boarding after making a dangerous hit against center Josh Norris, who is apparently close friends with Hughes.

Norris went behind Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen to retrieve a pass along the wall with Hughes in pursuit. As Norris went to corral the puck, Hughes gave the Senators forward a shove to the numbers, inadvertently knocking him face-first into the boards. Hughes let up pretty quickly, seemingly realizing what he did, and stopped playing.

Because Norris sustained a cut to his face, Hughes received a game misconduct and was ejected, per NHL rule 41.5. A major boarding penalty that causes an injury to the face or head of an opposing player is grounds for an automatic disqualification.

Canucks captain Quinn Hughes close with Senators' Josh Norris

Aside from getting ejected from a game in which the Canucks could really use him, Hughes is going to be feeling some extra regret about this play. Quinn and his younger brother, Jack Hughes, played with Norris for Team USA in 2019.

The Canucks captain also posed with Norris in a photo with Brady Tkachuk, posted to Hughes's Instagram account on Sept. 8, 2023, at what appeared to be Tkachuk's wedding. Knowing Hughes, it is highly unlikely there was any ill intent with the boarding penalty, which already seemed to be called generously but also according to the rule down to the letter.

Thanks to a power play goal from Jake DeBrusk, the Vancouver Canucks finished the first period with a 1-0 lead without Hughes, who would normally be manning the top unit. Hughes played 5:12 of ice time, including 1:01 on the power play, and recorded two shots on goal before being forced to exit the game.