The first ban-hammer from the NHL Department of Player Safety has been swung, and swung hard. Tampa Bay Lightning/Syracuse Crunch forward Scott Sabourin has been suspended for four games by DoPS for his actions in the Lightning’s fight-filled affair against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Okay. There is a little bit to unpack in this video. For the record, we were expecting a three-game suspension for the Lightning’s free agent signing. Four seems a bit much since the DoPS all but ignored what happened in the previous game (outside of a small fine for A.J. Greer). Still, it’s hard to argue with the points that they made in the video.
Yes – it is roughing
Yes – Sabourin completely ignored the run of play after the initial, legal hit.
Yes – Aaron Ekblad was an unwilling opponent when Sabourin clocked him in the face.
It is interesting that they went out of their way to acknowledge the parameters of when they can assess supplemental discipline. There is absolutely no doubt that his actions were intentional and that they were the result of a specific situation or in the case of Ekblad’s past history with the Lightning.
If Sabourin had anything other than a fine in his history, chances are the suspension could have been longer. The suspension also has a “knock it off, you two” feel to it. Especially when coupled with the report that the league has spoken with both teams about their shenanigans. Should they have stepped in earlier? Like maybe when Greer touched off the nonsense in the game on Thursday when he took a swing at an unsuspecting Brandon Hagel.
Will this cool things off a bit? Perhaps. It’s more likely that the two teams won’t meet again for a month, and that when they do meet again, it will count for something, that will settle tempers down a little. Luckily, with only four pre-season games at the most next season some of this nonsense will go away.
As for Sabourin, it will be interesting to see how the Lightning handle his suspension. He can only serve the punishment if he’s on the NHL roster, and quite frankly, that might not happen this year. While he is suspended, his salary does not count against the cap, but they do have to use one of the 23 roster spots for him while he’s suspended. [Update – the Lightning announced that Sabourin was re-assigned to Syracuse. So his suspension is pending his return to the NHL]
The Bolts will be without J.J. Moser as well as the defenseman received a two-game suspension for his actions.
Again, there really isn’t much to argue on this play. This is a horribly dangerous hit and Moser is lucky to be sitting for just two games (we were expecting three). Of course, the immediate argument made by every Tampa Bay fan wearing a Lightning Bolt (and a good portion of neutral observers) is that, if this is a hit that justifies supplemental discipline, why wasn’t a very similar hit by Carter Verhaeghe, in the very same game, also subject to a phone call from the league?
In addition to that, the Lightning were fined $100,000 and Jon Cooper was docked $25,000. Yeah, we kind of thought that might be coming as well. The fact that the team called up six players, including Roman Schmidt and Scott Sabourin, two players known to play physically, just for the game made it obvious that the Bolts were going to go out looking for a fight.
The good news is that these types of games and punishments can help foster an “us against the world” mind frame for the players. After both games, the players that spoke with the media were all adamant that this team will stick up for each other no matter what the situation may be.
It might not be the most pragmatic way to bond (especially if it leads to an injury or two) but it works for some teams.
