The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced today that Vancouver Canucks forward Nils Hoglander has been fined $2,864.58 for a slew-footing incident involving San Jose Sharks forward Kevin Labanc. The fine is the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and penalizes Hoglander further for an incident that occurred in last night’s 3-1 win over the Sharks. Hoglander did receive a match penalty in the game which was a severe in-game penalty that is rarely given for slew-footing.
Hoglander and Labanc were engaged in a battle near the boards late in the second period when Hoglander appeared to kick Labanc’s left foot from under him and throw his upper body to the ice. He was initially assessed a five-minute major which was video reviewed and eventually upheld. The incident was certainly difficult to watch, and it resulted in Labanc taking a trip to the dressing room where he was attended to by the Sharks medical staff. It was the first match penalty of Hoglander’s four-year NHL career.
When speaking to the media the 22-year-old said that the play was an accident, although he did accept his punishment. It is the first time Hoglander has been given any supplemental discipline by the Department of Player Safety.
The native of BockträSk, Sweden has five goals and three assists in 17 games this season. He was the Canucks second-round selection in the 2019 NHL entry draft and made the team out of training camp during the pandemic shortened 2020-21 season, registering 13 goals and 14 assists in 56 games.
The shocker of the stripes getting the call right, and the expected result from George P. Heddy was hot when that happened, and I can’t blame him.
Man, that reads like a run-on sentence. I’d change that to “…George P., plus Heddy was hot…”
Fines should be a percentage of the offender’s salary. As it is, they are effectively 10 times greater for those who make $1M compared to those on $10M.