The NHL announced on Thursday evening that Anaheim Ducks forward Antoine Vermette has been automatically suspended 10 games for physical abuse of an official.
Vermette’s actions, which took place in the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, fell under Category II of rule 40 for abuse of an official.
Early in the third period of the Ducks’ 1-0 win, Vermette hit linesman Shandor Alphonso in the back of the leg with his stick following a faceoff.
He was ejected from the game
As a result of the suspension Vermette will lose $97,222.22 in salary.
In 58 games with the Ducks this season he has eight goals and 14 assists.
While there is no official word yet from Vermette or the NHLPA, early reports are that he plans to appeal the suspension.
Dennis Wideman appealed his 20-game suspension for abuse of official last season and it turned out to be a lengthy process. The suspension ended up being reduced to 10 games, but only after Wideman had missed 19 games of the suspension. He ended up getting back the salary he had lost for the other nine games.