Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall was suspended for one game after the NHL department of Player Safety found that he "launched into a hit" on Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov.

Detroit Free Press said the Wings will be playing for Game 7 on Wednesday at the Amalie Arena without Kronwall on their team. This would be considered a loss for the team since they are reportedly counting on the suspended player especially during big games.

The team's general manager, Ken Holland, told >Detroit Free Press that they disagree with the decision but did not comment further on the incident.

Was the suspension necessary?

In a video, the NHL explained why it suspended Kronwall. Part of the transcription of the video provided by CBS Sports read:

"Many charging penalties are adequately punished by a minor or major penalty. What causes this infraction to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the force with which the hit was delivered, and the significant head contact that resulted from Kronwall launching into it.

Kucherov is eligible to hit on this play, being bent over in a standard puck carrying posture does not make him exempt from taking a legal hit, which might include some unavoidable head contact. However, rather than staying low and delivering a full body check through Kucherov's core, Kronwall elevates unacceptably, with his skates offs the ice prior to contact."

Yahoo Sports said that the move should have been called a penalty during the game with the report questioning why the league ended up suspending Kronwall.

For his part, Kucherov still finished the game and called the incident as something that is already part of the sport. "I'm not going to cry about it," he was quoted by Free Press as saying.

This was the same message of his coach Jon Cooper who said that Kronwall just "hits hard."

"That's it. Kuch is going to be fine, that's all that really matters. We're good with whatever happens," Cooper told reporters.

Meanwhile, Detroit coach Mike Babcock said they were really surprised that there was a hearing on the incident.

"It was a good hit. I thought Kucherov was leaning back trying to get out of the way. Kronner's foot was on the ice when he made contact, elbow tucked into the side. Went through him. If you go through this series, in Game 2 Callahan did the same to DeKeyser. Last night, Palat got Glendening exactly the same way," he said, as quoted by Detroit Free Press.

Since Kronwall will be out for Game 7, the Detroit Free Press said the Wings may use Jakub Kindl or rookie Alexey Marchenko as his substitute.