The San Jose Sharks are currently down 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings in the western conference semifinals and with everyone a bit on edge after two losses, general manager Doug Wilson lashed out about the suspension of Raffi Torres, so the NHL came back at him with a fine.
According to ESPN.com, the NHL fined the team $100,000 for the comments Wilson made, which included that the team did not agree with the suspension and that the hit was a clean one. The incident occurred in Game 1 when Torres hit Jarret Stoll of the Kings with an illegal check to the head, for which he was suspended for the rest of the series, which picks up on Tuesday in Game 4. Wilson ripped the decision after the game and said it was a shoulder hit.
The NHL decided to fine the team for "rules prohibiting formal team statements to the media during the 48-hour period following a disciplinary decision" which has a $25K fine along with a $75K fin for the "inappropriate" content of the comments. Torres is known as a rough player and he has been suspended four times previously in his career and the NHL added clarity to the ruling though a video with Brendan Shanahan, the senior vice president of player safety, saying that the main point of contact made it legitimate for a suspension to come down.
Torres previously had a 21 game suspension while with the Coyotes after a bit on Marian Hossa in the playoffs and he also missed two games last year in January as well as four games in April of the previous year for another hit to the head. Stoll has not yet returned after missing Game 2 with the injury.
