In today’s NHL rumors rundown, both Nick Cousins and the Ottawa Senators have been fined for pre-game unsportsmanlike conduct ahead of Game 3 at the Canadian Tire Centre. Elsewhere, in Game 3 between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals, chaos broke out in the Bell Centre at the end of the second period with all of the players on the ice, and fights even made their way onto the benches. Finally, the trial against five members of the 2018 World Junior Championship (WJC) team has been deemed a mistrial, and a new jury has been selected.
Cousins & Senators Fined for Pre-Game Shenanigans
In the warmup between the Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of Game 3 on Thursday night (April 24), Cousins sent a puck towards Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz. With some people saying it is just a game inside the game, some believing it was just a friendly hello to a former teammate, and some thinking it was a true attempt at getting under the skin of the Maple Leafs, none of that speculation mattered because the league did not like it.
Related: Senators’ Nick Cousins Fined For Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Darren Dreger posted early Friday (April 25) morning stating “the NHL is looking at an incident in warmup prior to game three between the Leafs and Senators. Undetermined whether league discipline will follow.”.
Post Media’s Bruce Garrioch followed that by saying that he saw pucks being lobbed down towards the Maple Leafs end, and saw Tim Stutzle stopping one at center ice, but didn’t think anything of it. The clip has been shared on social media, and was an innocent shot toward Stolarz who was stretching at center ice at the time.
The NHL announced that they had fined Cousins $2,083.33 and the Senators organization $25,000. There have been significantly more dangerous plays throughout the first week of the playoffs, but and with this being the first fine or suspension being handed out, it raised some eyebrows. The league is clearly setting a precedent that they don’t want these things being done before a game.
Prior to the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues playing their own Game 3, Joel Hofer and Mark Scheifele had their own pre-game shenanigans as well. While Scheifele was waiting to be the last player on the ice, Hofer decided to try to outwait him. While waiting, Hofer began shooting pucks 190 feet down the ice to the other net, where Scheifele was standing. Eventually, Hofer either got bored or ran out of pucks and left the ice. The league gave both teams a warning on this.
Bench Brawl in Montreal; Chaos Erupts on Ice
At the end of the second period in Game 3 between the Canadiens and Capitals, both teams’ players started making their way onto the ice, and Canadiens defenseman David Savard had some words to say to some of the Capitals players. This led to some pushing, which led to some more, and more, and more. Eventually, nearly everybody on the ice was fighting, and Josh Anderson and Tom Wilson were the main card, taking their fight onto the Capitals’ bench.
At that point, the Canadiens had just tied the game after Cole Caufield scored with under nine seconds to go in the period, and everything reached a boiling point after that.
Somehow, Wilson and Anderson got a two-minute and a ten-minute penalty each, and Arber Xhekaj and Lars Eller got two minutes each for roughing were the only penalties called. Surely, everybody on the ice could have been given a misconduct, but the officials decided to just take the main culprits off.
Some other news from the game, both Sam Montembeault and Logan Thompson left the game with injuries, and Jakob Dobes and Charlie Lindgren came in to finish the game in relief.
Mistrial Declared in Trial for Five 2018 WJC Players
One of the biggest off-ice stories has been the trial for the five players from the 2018 WJC Team Canada team. Alex Formenton, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote, Carter Hart, and Dillon Dube are all facing sexual assault charges, and after the trial had begun earlier in the week, with a selection of 11 women and three men on the initial jury, Justice Maria Carroccia declared a mistrial, and selected a new jury.
As TSN’s Rick Westhead reports, the defendants have all pleaded not guilty, and the trial will resume on Monday (April 28).
