NHL lands Washington Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom one-game ban over attempted injury-NHL News
The National Hockey League (NHL) has assessed Washington Capitals’ forward, Nicklas Backstrom, for an injury attempt, which automatically translates into a game suspension as a penalty to him.
Backstrom was penalised over the alleged intent-to-injury in the game against the Boston Bruins on Monday night, April 16, 2012. Bruins won the game, 4-3.
The player had cross-checked Bruins’ forward, Rich Peverley, into very last moments of the game and the league office, while assessing him for the attempted injury, has prohibited him from participating in the next game.
It was reported to be the maximum punishment allowed under the relevant rules and the player remains lucky to have escaped the possibility of paying heavier price for his foul.
Capitals’ coach, Dale Hunter, in one of his post-game comments, has come into Backstrom’s defence, saying the forward "was trying to protect his face" as the opposition player, Peverley, had raised his stick just in the face of the player.
According to Hunter, the possible injury could have proved more devastating for Backstrom, who has already missed more than half of the regular season with a concussion.
He became a part of the team again from March 31, 2012, and is extra cautious about his safety and security, to avoid the possibility of such an injury again.
However, the coach’s apparent explanation of the player’s situation and his involvement in the cross-checking has not proved to be satisfactory for the league and the office was straight to the punishment of the player.
It was yet another example of NHL’s strict action against foul play in a game. The NHL has regularly and sternly been penalising players from other teams over their fouls. The pace of injuries and consequent penalties has picked up momentum since start of
the playoffs.
Since the postseason phase is more competitive than other rounds, an increasing number of players remain prone to injuries.
In some cases such as the ongoing tussle between Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, the authorities punished players and officials for their involvement in fights and rough plays.
Penguins and Flyers are at forefront of such controversies and the NHL has recently penalised their players and coaches, respectively, by imposing hefty fines on them and landing suspensions from the game.
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