NHL Player Safety comes down on Alexander Romanov.
Romanov takes a hit of his own.
The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety (DOPS) has taken exception with a big hit delivered over the weekend.
According to an official announcement from the DOPS, New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable fine under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, for a hit he delivered to New York Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck.
The incident occurred during a preseason game between the intrastate rivals on Saturday, one in which Romanov and Trocheck were battling throughout. The hit itself would come after two periods of those battles, in the opening minutes of the game's third period.
Trocheck was fighting for the puck along the wall and appeared to lose it in his skates, or at least was attempting to recover it with his skates, when Romanov saw the opportunity to deliver some punishment to the man he had been battling all night. That punishment came in the form of a big hit along the boards, but one that the officials on the ice took exception to. Romanov was awarded with a two minute minor penalty for the hit, one in which he clearly leaves his feet, but was also treated to a bit of rough stuff from Trocheck's teammate, Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey.
The end result was a pair of minor penalties for both sides, but it seems like the league felt that Romanov was in need of some additional discipline following this incident. While $5,000 may not seem like much when NHL players are earning millions, this will also result in Romanov being considered a repeat offender should he find himself in the crosshairs of the NHL's DOPS again in the near future.
