League clamps down hard in the wake of Torres suspension.
The National Hockey League fined the San Jose Sharks $100,000 for general manager Doug Wilson’s comments on the suspension of Sharks forward Raffi Torres.
The fine was issued for violation of league rules which prohibit statements to the media during the 48-hour period following a disciplinary decision.
In addition to an automatic penalty of $25,000, the Sharks were fined an additional $75,000 due to the “inappropriate nature” of Wilson’s remarks, the league said.
League discipline czar Brendan Shanahan suspended Torres on Thursday for the remainder of the Sharks’ second-round series against the Los Angeles Kings for an illegal hit to the head of Kings forward Jarret Stoll in the second period of the Kings 2-0 victory in game one on Tuesday.
The Sharks also lost game two, to trail 0-2 going into Saturday’s game three at San Jose.
On Friday, Wilson expressed his thoughts on the suspension in a lengthy statement.
“The Sharks organization fully supports the NHL in its efforts to remove illegal and dangerous hits from the game but we strongly disagree with the NHL’s decision to suspend Raffi Torres,” Wilson said in a statement, saying it was “abundantly clear” that Torres made a “clean hockey hit”.
Wilson said he believed the league was trying to make an example of Torres, who received a 25-game ban — later reduced to 21 games — during last year’s Western Conference quarter-finals for a devastating hit on Chicago’s Marian Hossa.
Since then, Wilson said, Torres “has changed his game dramatically this season and taken only six minor penalties in 39 games.”
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