Michael Cammalleri was suspended for one game by the NHL due to a slashing incident on Nino Niederreiter in a preseason game Saturday against the New York Islanders. Cammalleri received a five-minute major and game misconduct on the play, which occurred with 3:08 left in the second period.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Cammalleri will forfeit $32,258.06. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The biggest problem is that Cammalleri didn’t just make one passionate (and still questionable) move with his stick. He swung high at Niederreiter once and then slashed him from behind in the ankle, which indicates to me that an angry Cammalleri could make an even more dangerous mistake at some point if he’s not properly reprimanded. Take a look for yourself in this video of the incident.
Pretty ugly, if you ask me, but what do you think? Did Cammalleri deserve a suspension for this slash? Should he be out more than one game for it? Let us know in the comments.