Bob Hartley fined $50,000; Deryk Engelland instigator rescinded from Friday line brawl
Calgary coach Bob Hartley has been fined $50,000 for the antics by his Flames during Friday’s Game 2 line brawl against Vancouver.
And the instigator penalty on Flames defenseman Deryk Engelland who racked up 42 penalty minutes in the third period of Friday’s 4-1 loss? Rescinded by the NHL.
Why was Hartley fined?
The fine was issued in accordance with By-Law 17.3 (a) for conduct prejudicial to or against the welfare of the League.
The language of that rule is amazing.
Here’s the video of what happened:
And this is not the first time Hartley was fined for the above stated rule. Remember that whole John Tortorella running into the Flames locker room thing last season? That was caused by Hartley starting his goons against Tortorella's Canucks, which led to a $25,000 fine against the Calgary coach.
The question on Engelland, per a tweet from TSN’s Darren Dreger was more whether Engelland would be suspended and Hartley fined $10,000. As from our story Friday night (linked above), Engelland faced suspension because his instigator penalty in the final five minutes, which would trigger a suspension, or like a bajillion other scenarios -- because it's the NHL and the playoffs and rules become slightly more bendable at this point, which honestly is understandable. Why do refs 'put away their whistles' in overtime?
But instead, Engelland was all good per the league on the instigator front, not suspended obviously, and Hartley is a little lighter in the wallet. So really – nobody on the Flames roster will be impacted for Game 3.
Also, this is Engelland, a depth defenseman, we're talking about. If he was suspended, would it really have been super impactful to the series?
Playoff justice is the best justice!
- - - - - - -
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY