After having his 10-game suspension upheld by commissioner Gary Bettman, Anaheim Ducks forward Antoine Vermette has decided to not take his appeal to a neutral arbitrator according to a report from ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.
Vermette was given an automatic 10-game suspension for a Category II abuse of official foul in a game against the Minnesota Wild when he slashed linesman Shandor Alphonso in the back of the leg following a faceoff.
Following Bettman’s ruling, Vermette and the NHLPA had seven days to decide whether or not they would take the appeal to a neutral arbitrator to continue hearing the case.
Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman went that route last season following his 20-game suspension for shoving an official. It was a lengthy drawn out process that was not officially decided until after Wideman had already served 19 of the 20 games. The suspension was ultimately reduced to 10 games, which meant Wideman at least got back the salary he lost for the additional nine games he served.
Vermette and the NHLPA have chosen not to go down that path.
He has already served six games of the suspension and will lose $97,000 in salary when it is over.