Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Ben Chiarot fined, not suspended, for bloodying Corey Perry

Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry can pester with the best of them, but you still can’t get away with butt-ending him in the face with your stick.

Well, you can’t get away with such an action without ending up a little lighter in the wallet, at least. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety deserved to fine, not suspend, Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot for the action you can witness in the video above.

Apparently this is the maximum fine allowable by the CBA for such an offense:

Credit TSN’s Frank Seravalli for getting some gruesome details (“under the top layer of skin?” barf) about Perry’s wound. There was no penalty on Chiarot, but Mark Scheifele ended up drawing a roughing call during the fracas, so that might boil down to semantics.

As much as the NHL is cracking down on slashing, suspensions for certain stick-related infractions still seem rare. It’s ... fairly consistent, if nothing else?

Anyway, as much as pests can annoy - especially when their antics result in power plays - it’s clear that it’s not a gig for the thin-skinned. Or, if your skin is thin, you might need to accept that you’ll part with it from time to time.

The Ducks ended up losing to the Jets 4-1 on Friday. Perry and Anaheim have had a rough time health-wise this season, but it doesn’t sound like this will force him to miss action. Probably doesn’t feel great, though.


James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.