Earlier today, the IIHF ruled on Canadian forward Boone Jenner’s late hit that knocked Sweden’s Jesper Pettersson from the WJC 2013 tournament.

Jenner has been suspended three games for this hit that caused Pettersson to suffer a broken wrist and shoulder dislocation. He was assessed a five-minute charging major and game misconduct. The Swedish defenseman had to be taken out on a stretcher.

“The video material indicated that the hit was late and delivered with no intention to play the puck and with Pettersson being in a vulnerable position,” the IIHF said in a statement Monday. “It was Jenner’s intention to deliver the forceful check in spite of having the opportunity to at least make an attempt to avoid contact on Pettersson.

“The hit was delivered far too late. This resulted in an injury to Sweden’s Pettersson and for this Jenner is to be held accountable.”

This is the first time I’ve looked at it. My initial reaction is that Jenner’s hit came way too late. Pettersson had already released the puck and then Jenner comes in with a clean shoulder check that injured Pettersson. I definitely agree that he deserved a suspension. He’ll miss Canada’s first three preliminary games against Germany tomorrow, Slovakia on Friday and the highly anticipated match-up against the United States on Sunday.

“Our feeling is (the hit) was shoulder-to-shoulder,” Team Canada coach Steve Spott asserted. “If anything, maybe interference or a charge, but definitely not something that’s worth suspending because, although Boone is an aggressive player, he didn’t target anybody’s head and he didn’t leave his feet.”

While the Kitchener Rangers OHL coach is right about Jenner not leaving his feet, it doesn’t change the fact that the hit was late and knocked Pettersson out of the WJC. Clearly, the IIHF isn’t messing around. They don’t want these kind of plays in the premier prospect tournament. So, Jenner sits for three.