Mike Heika is reporting that Steve Ott has formerly been suspended one game by league officials. The good news is that he already served his suspension by sitting out yesterday’s game and will be free to play tomorrow against San Jose.
Here’s what I want to know: Why haven’t Travis Moen, J.S. Giguere and Randy Carlyle been disciplined as well?
I’m perfectly fine with Ott being suspended. If he gouged Moen in the eye, accidental or not, then he deserved to be suspended. But he would not have even been put into this situation if he had not been jumped by Moen and Giguere after the game was over.
Rule 47.2: A player or goalkeeper who is deemed to be both the instigator and aggressor of an altercation shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major penalty for fighting, a ten-minute misconduct (instigator) and a game misconduct penalty (aggressor).
Rule 47.9: Players involved in fighting other than during the periods of the game shall be assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct. Should one player be deemed the instigator of the fight, the game misconduct shall not be assessed to his opponent.
Any player or goalkeeper who would be deemed to be an instigator pursuant to this rule at a time other than during the periods of the game shall be suspended pursuant to 47.20.
Rule 47.22: A player or goalkeeper who is deemed to be the instigator of an altercation in the final five (5) minutes of regulation time or at anytime in overtime, shall automatically be suspended for one game. When the one-game suspension is imposed, the Coach shall be fined $10,000 – a fine that will double for each subsequent incident.
You cannot get anymore cut and dry than that. Travis Moen was freely swinging at at Ott who was doing his best to defend himself when he knew he couldn’t swing back. That looks like fighting to me.
If the league does in fact suspend Moen and fine Carlyle then it call it even and we’ll all move on. But if Ott is the only one punished for this incident then there is a GRAVE injustice being visited upon the Dallas Stars.