No fines for Sidney Crosby after spearing, 'slew foot' vs. Rangers?

Sidney Crosby’s not exactly had the greatest of postseasons, what with one goal in 12 games and becoming as unhinged as we’ve seen him become without the presence of orange and black sweaters on the other side of the ice.

Witness this spear into undercarriage of Dominic Moore of the New York Rangers in Game 6 on Sunday:

And this sweep of the leg on Dan Girardi in the same game from Crosby:

As of noon on Monday, neither of these offenses has resulted in any financial penalty from the NHL, although the League indicated to us that it doesn’t mean there couldn’t be one before Game 7 – especially since it would be a fine rather than a man-game lost.

(Henrik Lundqvist, incidentally, won’t be fined for his water bottle squirt on Crosby either, which is consistent with the NHL’s decision not to fine Scottie Upshall for the same thing earlier this season. Shawn Thornton, remember, was fined for squirting P.K. Subban during play.)

So why didn’t Crosby get anything yet?

First, on the “slew foot”: The NHL considers this play to be a trip rather than a slew foot, because Crosby doesn’t use his upper body to take down Girardi. It’s a cheap, dangerous play, but it’s not something supplemental discipline is going to throw the book at him for doing.

On the spear – a move that we’ve seen Milan Lucic and Ryan Garbutt fined for already this postseason – John Shannon of Sportsnet believes that since it was “in the heat of battle,” the NHL isn’t going to fine him for it.

This is all logical and sensible, as is the notion that the NHL could hand out fines for dozens of things that occur in every game but does not.

However … we’ve seen more crotch chops this postseason than in a Degeneration X commemorative DVD. It’s not exactly led to a scourge of injuries, but it’s rather embarrassing for the League, to be honest.

So if the NHL were to punish Crosby for his Ishmael act on Moore’s Moby … well, you know … the name recognition alone gets the attention of the rest of the League. And, let’s be honest here: Throwing a little shade at Sidney Crosby helps defuse the notion that he’s coddled by the League. (I don’t think he is in particular, but the perception’s there.)

Besides, we’re sure he can handle the fine just fine.