NHL Hands Down Suspensions For O’Brien And Brown

Added on Jan 15, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Nashville Predators defenseman Shane O’Brien has been suspended for two games. And was fined close to forty thousand dollars for a high sticking incident. The Predators were playing the Florida Panthers on January 13, and O’Briens stick hit the face of Stephen Weiss that cut him open on the ice.

O’Brien is considered to be a second offender, and was punished accordingly. He was suspended in November in 2009. If he was a first offender, his fine would be adjusted based on the days in the season. Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, his fine is adjusted to the number of games. This adjustment makes the fine much more severe. Obrien’s suspension comes at a bad time, because he will miss playing the Blackhawks in Nashville twice this weekend.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mike Brown has been suspended for three games and will forfeit $8,669.34 in salary. The Leafs were playing the Phoenix Coyotes, and Brown connected on a hit with Ed Jovanovski that is being considered a lateral hit to the head(video.) Brown’s fine is based on his average annual salary and is calculated under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. The incident occurred at 19:03 of the second period. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Brown will miss games Saturday’s game against Calgary, Jan. 19 at the New York Rangers and Jan. 20 against Anaheim. He will be eligible to return Jan. 22 against Washington.