Chicago Blackhawks’ coach Joel Quenneville made to pay $10k for officiating criticism-NHL News
Chicago Blackhawks’ coach, Joel Quenneville, said that he did not expect receiving a punishment for his criticism on officiating in the game against the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, but the $10K fine may not be a surprise for him given that
he had through to a similar situation a year earlier.
The National Hockey League (NHL) has imposed the fine on the coach over his comment that "refereeing tonight was a disgrace", which he offered while referring to Game 3 of the Western Conference playoff quarterfinals series.
Blackhawks lost the game, 2-3, in which their winger, Marian Hossa, was hit in the head by Coyotes’ forward, Raffi Torres.
Quenneville criticised the officials supervising the game while referring to a missed call opportunity over Torres hit.
The league office has penalised the coach over his outbursts and fined him $10,000. He had been fined a similar amount over such a comment during the playoff series last year.
He was asked if knew the consequences of being fined by the NHL at the time of his critical analysis of officiating in the tie, but he denied being into realisation of such an outcome.
The coach, while explaining his position over the situation, said:
"I was just answering a question."
He said of Torres hit on Hossa:
"It was a brutal hit. You could have a multiple-choice question and it's all of the above."
As result of the hit, Hossa came down on the ice motionless for a minute before being taken to the sidelines and later transported to hospital in an ambulance.
He is now out of the hospital recovering from an upper body injury at his home. He is expected to miss a couple of games before reporting back his fitness to the management.
Torres, in the meantime, has been suspended indefinitely. He faces an in-person hearing of the league on Friday, April 20, 2012, where officials of the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) are going to be present.
However, the NHL has quickly and strongly taken exception to the coach’s comments about the game officials, making him to pay the price of $10K for his critical view of in-game decisions.
The Phoenix Coyotes are leading the quarterfinal series 3-1.
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