Islanders Trevor Gillies Suspended 10 Games

Added on Mar 04, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Trevor Gillies was coming off a nine game suspension for an illegal hit to the head, and it only took him 4 shifts to do it again. To punish him the NHL has suspended him for 10 games, and by the time he gets back there will only be 7 games left in the season.

In retaliation for a hit on Islanders rookie Justin DiBenedetto, which drew a boarding penalty, Gillies drilled Minnesota Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck and was given a major penalty for checking from behind and ejected. Clutterbuck stayed in the game and then played Thursday at the New York Rangers.

NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell said in a statement released earlier today, “By targeting his opponent’s head, [four] shifts into his first game back from a suspension for a very similar action, Mr. Gillies has forfeited his privilege of playing in the league for 10 games. While it is fortunate there was no injury on the play, there can be no justification for a player delivering a dangerous check to an opponent in this manner.” He continued to say that he felt Gillies was deliberately trying to injure Clutterbuck, and concluded “The message should be clear to all players: targeting the head of an opponent by whatever means will be dealt with by suspension.”

Gillies is considered a repeat offender and the rules change when you are suspended for a second time. He was suspended for 9 games on Feb. 11 for his actions in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Gillies forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (186.) He will lose just under 61,000 dollars, and the team was fined 100,000 dollars for the Pittsburgh fights and penalties. The money will go to the players emergency fund.

Gillies will be eligible to return to action on March 26 against Philadelphia. There will be only seven games left in New York’s season at that point.