Evidence mounts that NHL made huge mistake with Hall’s verdict

Earlier on Wednesday morning, Boston Bruins forward Taylor Hall fined $5,000 for roughing Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin. The $5,000 fine is the maximum allowable under the CBA for Hall, who is in the first season of a four-year, $24 million deal.

And so, it’s pocket change for him while fans expected Hall to get a suspension for his actions.

The incident took place in the second period of the Maple Leafs’ 6-4 victory over the Bruins last night. Hall retaliated to hit by Lyubushkin by getting up and punching the Leafs defenseman in the side of the head. Lyubushkin dropped to the ice immediately. He left the game and did not return. Hall was penalized two minutes for roughing.

Fans were upset to see that Hall was getting off really easy on the play and started posting tweets, memes and proof that the NHL has promised to curb sucker punches on unwilling opponents, a news that was reported by insider Frank Seravalli back in 2019.

But really nothing has changed.

Some Maple Leafs’ fans were frustrated, not only because Lyubushkin was injured on the play, but also because star player Auston Matthews was suspended two games earlier this month for cross-checking despite a clean past suspension history.

Hall was suspended two games for kneeing (2013), fined $5k for boarding (2018) and got this $5k fine for sucker punching a player from behind that is defenceless.

The incident is trending and you know that NHL is not looking good here (just check up your socials, fans are going on about this). 

But are we even surprised?