The NHL DoPS has rendered its verdict and it is apparently that Sam Bennett, in one of his seemingly two reviewable incidents last night violated the NHL’s rules on this series of crosschecks against Michael Bunting.
cross-check to the ear (called) then another while he’s down (did it because the arm was already up) pic.twitter.com/6phNWXz6qw
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) May 5, 2023
Florida’s Sam Bennett has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Cross-checking against Toronto’s Michael Bunting.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 5, 2023
So that play cost Sam Bennett $5,000 and he’ll be back in the lineup next game. The fine is equal to 0.11% of Sam Bennett’s cap hit and would make it about equivalent to a speeding ticket for those of us in the real world. So it might suck but it isn’t going to deter you from doing it again, just maybe look around before you do it.
There was the second incident with Bennett against Knies that also went unpunished.
the overhead view of the Bennett-Knies drop looks so much worse pic.twitter.com/X7V41xHmHu
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) May 5, 2023
Knies didn’t return to the game.
Bennett does have a suspension history which includes targeting the head and that certainly makes the decision to go with a fine in this instance a confusing one, as well as an inconsistent one. There always seem to be lighter rulings during playoff time (unless you are Michael Bunting or Nazem Kadri) so maybe this is just a continuation of that.
