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NHL fines Canucks’ Roussel for biting Vlasic

vlasic

Antoine Roussel has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for chomping on the hand of Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The incident happened late in the third period with Roussel’s Vancouver Canucks down 4-0 to the Vlasic’s San Jose Sharks.

Vlasic and Roussel were engaged in a scuffle after play had stopped, with the former getting his hand in the face of latter. Roussel, seemingly displeased (or hungry), lashed out with his teeth.

The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz sent out a tweet following the game saying Vlasic bit him and said Vlasic showed him the bit marks.

Here’s the footage of the incident:

Roussel was penalized for his involvement in the fracas as he was given two minutes for roughing, another two for cross-checking and a 10-minute misconduct.

It’s the not the first time a Canucks player has tried to feast on another player’s hand.

If you go back to Game 1 of 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, you’ll remember a certain Alex Burrows chomp on Patrice Bergeron.

Burrows was neither fined nor suspended for the incident, with officials saying there was no conclusive evidence that Burrows intentionally tried to chow down.

Of course, that didn’t stop Bruins players from trying to entice Burrows to take another bite later in the series.

Biting isn’t exactly a foreign concept in the NHL.

In the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, Victor Hedman alleged that Andrew Shaw bit him on his stomach during a scrum. Hedman was shown on the bench after the melee lifting up his jersey to show the mark on his torso to the trainer.

There was no punishment for Shaw even as he didn’t deny doing the deed.

In a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, now-Vegas Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty appeared to be bitten by then-Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski after the Pacioretty wrapped his arm around Grabovski’s face in a scrum after a whistle.

Grabovski had a phone hearing for the incident but the DoPS couldn’t determine if a bite had occurred. He was not fined nor suspended for the incident.

Grabovski later admitted that he did, indeed, bite Pacioretty.


Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck