Ryan Clowe won’t be suspended or fined for playing the puck from the San Jose bench last night in a game against the Kings, reports Puck Daddy (citing an NHL source).
According to the rulebook, the only way the league can hand out supplemental discipline is if the player gets involved from the bench during a stoppage in play.
For what Clowe did, the only possible punishment is a minor penalty.
In a related story, every single NHL team just purchased one of those long pool-cleaning poles.
We actually wonder if this will be one of those issues that gets addressed immediately, a la the so-called Sean Avery Rule of 2008 that called for a penalty to be assessed “when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face” after Avery did exactly that to Martin Brodeur.
Of course, given the NHLPA was upset the Avery Rule was imposed by the league during the playoffs without going through the competition committee — plus the fact we’re talking about supplemental discipline, not a minor penalty — it might be tough to address now.
