The NHL’s department of Player Safety has suspended Capitals forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel for 3 games for an illegal check to the head on Tampa Bay’s Cal Foote on Friday night.
The incident occurred at the 1:56 mark of the middle frame, when Aube-Kubel came laterally across the ice and made contact with Foote (son of longtime NHL defenseman Adam Foote), who was trailing the play.
A 5-minute penalty is awarded to the @TBLightning after Cal Foote takes a dirty hit from Nicolas Aube-Kubel who has been ejected.@TBLightning | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/2nBPEcAttF
— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) November 12, 2022
Aube-Kubel has been previously fined by the NHL for a kneeing incident, and in 2018, during his time with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers) of the American Hockey League, was suspended three games for an illegal check to the head.
Video from NHL Department of Player Safety:
Aube-Kubel will miss the game Sunday at Tampa Bay, Tuesday’s game at Florida and Thursday’s game at St. Louis. He will forfeit $16,216.23 in salary.
He will be eligible to return next Saturday for Washington’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Too many games, too few, just right? Wonder how folks feel about it.
I would like to hear their reasoning. I believe intent should be critical to the punishment. To me, it did not look malicious. I would have thought 1 game.
For some reason my browser didn’t want to play their video first time around. Now I have watched it. They still do not address intent, just that he could have avoided it. I think Foote may have slowed up after shoving the puck forward. If he had been faster, NAK would have hit the side of Foote not his front.
I think NAK may also have thought Foote was straightening up and that Foote’s shoulder would have been higher. So NAK’s positioning to me is one of what NAK was anticipating at the time and not as cut and dried as DOPES would have it. So I still go for one.
Remember this from a year ago: The NHL’s Department of Player Safety won’t discipline Sidney Crosby for this reckless and dangerous incident with Martin Fehervary of the Washington Capitals. Crosby — instead of skating around his opponent or stopping — tossed Fehervary violently into the boards behind him.
Even Pits writers (not just fans but writers) were saying that it was not a hockey move and could not be excused. That is what I mean by intent. Sid was frustrated and deliberately attacked Fever. And then got away with it — no penalty, no fine, no suspension, not even a meeting. That intent to injure should be a main factor in supplemental punishment.
3 games sounds appropriate especially as he is now a repeat offender. My problem with the dishing out of suspensions by the league and penalties by the refs is some players can get away with murder because they are either a star player or have been in the league a long time. It would seem to me what is a penalty for one should be a penalty for all. And if the refs wont or dont call it then Toronto should call it an d then suspend the ref.
The asymmetric and unbalanced operations between the league and DOPS is one of my greatest dislikes of the NHL.
Don’t really have too much of problem with it, but it’s the capricioysness of DOPS that gets to me. Seems that who the player is, and value to their team, plays as much into the discipline meted out, as the severity of the offense.
Roger that! There is absolutely no consistency or logic to the process.