A second diving/embellishing infraction has seen Ottawa Senators forward Zack Smith fined $2,000 by the NHL on Thursday.
The fine comes out of nowhere in some ways, since Smith wasn’t given a penalty during the game. With the league monitoring games for dives, it’s hard to know who is in line for disciplinary action. A player’s first infraction isn’t publicly announced and the league assessing a fine like this doesn’t necessarily have to relate to any calls made on the ice. In fact, in Smith’s case, he doesn’t have a diving penalty on the year.
The dive came in a December 10 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning where he drew a holding penalty on Steven Stamkos by taking a spill big enough that Exxon-Valdez called their lawyers to determine what kind of liability they have in the situation.
A player’s first fine in a season — this is Smith’s first — comes after a second diving infraction as determined by the league. Smith’s first infraction came against the Vancouver Canucks on November 12. In that game he didn’t get a penalty for diving and didn’t manage to draw a penalty.
Under Rule 64 the league automatically fines a player $2,000 for their second diving infraction. If he does it again the next fine will be $3,000. On a fifth violation, the team’s coach will begin to be fined as well.
Watch Smith’s flop that earned him a public shaming below.
He’s the second player to be fined for diving infractions this season. Teemu Pulkkinen was fined earlier this season.
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