NHL Diving Fines 2015-16
| Offender | Team | Incident Date | Fine | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | DET | 11/8/15 | $2,000 | Article |
| Smith, Zack | OTT | 12/10/15 | $2,000 | Article |
| Hansen, Jannik | VAN | 12/22/15 | $2,000 | |
| Ehlers, Nikolaj | WPG | 12/29/15 | $2,000 | Article |
| Farnham, Bobby | NJD | 12/30/15 | $2,000 | Article |
| Tootoo, Jordin | NJD | 1/4/16 | $2,000 | Article |
| Burmistrov, Alexander | WPG | 1/26/16 | $2,000 | |
| Blandisi, Joseph | NJD | 2/23/16 | $2,000 | |
| Smith-Pelly, Devante | MTL | 2/24/16 | $2,000 | |
| Hanzal, Martin | PHX | 3/12/16 | $2,000 | Article |
| Kadri, Nazem | TOR | 3/12/16 | $2,000 | Article |
| Yakupov, Nail | EDM | 3/12/16 | $2,000 | Article |
| Kadri, Nazem | TOR | 3/21/16 | $3,000 | Article |
With three Devils having been fined for diving, New Jersey head coach John Hynes was one infraction away from being hit with a $2,000 fine. As of yet, no coach has been fined under the NHL’s new diving guidelines.
As a reminder, here’s the scale of fines issues to those found guilty of diving/embellishment.
The league reviews all possible embellishment situations and may consider additional dives that were not penalized during the game. They may also rescind dives called in a game that were later reviewed and determined not to be embellishments.
The Diving/Embellishment Review Process
The NHL’s Hockey Operations department tracks every diving or embellishment penalty called on the ice. They also review each game to identify possible dives that were missed by the on-ice officials. (In some cases, they even rescind those diving penalties that may have been called during a game. Boston’s Brad Marchand was the beneficiary of such a modification.)
Once the Hockey Ops team agrees that a dive has taken place, they issue a citation. Sportsnet’s Damien Cox reports that there are nine individuals who participate in the review of each incident. If six decide that a dive has taken place, the player is cited.
In-Game Penalties for Diving/Embellishment
While the NHL reviews all plays for diving and embellishment fines, the best punishment is that handed out in a game. Here are the calls from the 2015-16 season:
| Date | Player | Team | Dive Count | Matching Penalty | Referees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/13/2015 | Nail Yakupov | EDM | 1 | Interference | Leggo/Martell |
| 10/15/2015 | Alexei Emelin | MTL | 1 | Roughing | Watson/Morton |
| 10/17/2015 | Andrew Shaw | CHI | 1 | Slashing | Charron/Meier |
| 10/23/2015 | Victor Rask | CAR | 1 | Holding | Dwyer/Skilliter |
| 11/8/2015 | Marcus Kruger | CHI | 1 | Holding | Pochmara/Hanson |
| 11/14/2015 | Valeri Nichushkin | DAL | 1 | Tripping | Romasko/Kozari |
| 11/19/2015 | Jonathan Marchessault | TBL | 1 | Hooking | Hebert/Lemelin |
| 11/20/2015 | Michael Grabner | TOR | 1 | Slashing | Kimmerly/Lee |
| 11/21/2015 | Nikolaj Ehlers | WPG | 1 | Interference | Watson/Meier |
| 11/29/2015 | Mike Green | DET | 1 | Interference | McCauley/McIsaac |
| 12/3/2015 | James Neal | NSH | 1 | Tripping | Lee/Pollock |
| 12/6/2015 | Dave Bolland | FLA | 1 | Interference | Jackson/Dwyer |
| 12/7/2015 | James Neal | NSH | 2 | None | Peel/Morton |
| 12/15/2015 | Jussi Jokinen | FLA | 1 | Cross-checking | Lee/Hanson |
| 12/17/2015 | Brandon Manning | PHI | 1 | Elbowing | O'Rourke/Martell |
| 12/19/2015 | Jarret Stoll | MIN | 1 | None | Kozari/Lemelin |
| 12/22/2015 | Jannik Hansen | VAN | 1 | Interference | L'Ecuyer/Morton |
| 12/26/2015 | Paul Byron | MTL | 1 | Interference | Sutherland/Hebert |
| 12/27/2015 | Joakim Nordstrom | CAR | 1 | Hooking | Rooney/Kozari |
| 12/27/2015 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | ARI | 1 | Unsportsmanlike | Jackson/Watson |
| 12/29/2015 | Brendan Smith | DET | 1 | Interference | McCauley/Furlatt |
| 12/29/2015 | Brett Connolly | BOS | 1 | Hooking | L'Ecuyer/Rehman |
| 12/29/2015 | Derek MacKenzie | FLA | 1 | Tripping | Meier/Chmielewski |
| 12/30/2015 | Bobby Farnham | NJD | 1 | None | Martell/Morton |
| 12/31/2015 | Nikolaj Ehlers | WPG | 2 | Hooking | O'Rourke/Watson |
| 1/8/2016 | Artemi Panarin | CHI | 1 | Interference | Kowal/Romasko |
| 1/12/2016 | Craig Smith | NSH | 1 | Hooking | Pochmara/Rehman |
| 1/14/2016 | Alexander Edler | VAN | 1 | Interference | Sutherland/O'Halloran |
| 1/14/2016 | James Neal | NSH | 3 | Interference | St. Pierre/Peel |
| 1/14/2016 | Joel Armia | WPG | 1 | Hooking | St. Pierre/Peel |
| 1/14/2016 | Scottie Upshall | STL | 1 | Interference | Hebert/Kozari |
| 1/14/2016 | Tobias Rieder | ARI | 1 | Interference | Leggo/Romasko |
| 1/21/2016 | Nino Niederreiter | MIN | 1 | Hooking | Rooney/McIsaac |
| 1/27/2016 | Jakub Voracek | PHI | 1 | Holding | Pollock/Morton |
| 1/27/2016 | Nikita Kucherov | TBL | 1 | None | Pochmara/Rehman |
| 2/2/2016 | Tom Kuhnhackl | PIT | 1 | Holding | Rooney/Pochmara |
| 2/9/2016 | Chris Stewart | ANA | 1 | Hooking | Charron/Pollock |
| 2/11/2016 | Taylor Hall | EDM | 1 | Hooking | Pochmara/Dwyer |
| 2/13/2016 | Nail Yakupov | EDM | 2 | Hooking | Walsh/Meier |
| 2/16/2016 | Joseph Blandisi | NJD | 1 | Slashing | Kimmerly/Rank |
| 2/19/2016 | Eric Staal | CAR | 1 | Hooking | McCauley/Morton |
| 2/23/2016 | Connor McDavid | EDM | 1 | Sutherland/Watson | |
| 2/23/2016 | Joseph Blandisi | NJD | 2 | Interference | Leggo/Lemelin |
| 2/23/2016 | Michael Frolik | CGY | 1 | Tripping | Jackson/Skilliter |
| 2/23/2016 | Tyler Johnson | TBL | 1 | Tripping | Hebert/L'Ecuyer |
| 2/26/2016 | Ryan Spooner | BOS | 1 | Tripping | Dwyer/Hebert |
| 2/28/2016 | Zdeno Chara | BOS | 1 | Hooking | St. Pierre/Kozari |
| 3/1/2016 | Dmitry Orlov | WSH | 1 | Holding | Sutherland/Romasko |
| 3/1/2016 | Jason Chimera | WSH | 1 | Hooking | Sutherland/Romasko |
| 3/9/2016 | Zach Hyman | TOR | 1 | Hooking | St. Pierre/Meier |
| 3/11/2016 | Shayne Gostisbehere | PHI | 1 | Holding | Skilliter/Lee |
| 3/14/2016 | Dan Hamhuis | VAN | 1 | Roughing | Charron/Watson |
| 3/14/2016 | Erik Gudbranson | FLA | 1 | Cross-checking | Hebert/Skilliter |
| 3/15/2016 | Trevor Daley | PIT | 1 | Tripping | Sutherland/Romasko |
| 3/17/2016 | Carl Hagelin | PIT | 1 | Tripping | O'Halloran/Kozari |
| 3/19/2016 | Martin Hanzal | ARI | 1 | Slashing | Kimmerly/Watson |
| 3/21/2016 | Nazem Kadri | TOR | 1 | Slashing | O'Halloran/Romasko |
| 3/26/2016 | Chris Kreider | NYR | 1 | Holding | Watson/Kozari |
| 3/26/2016 | David Pastrnak | BOS | 1 | Hooking | Hebert/Kowal |
| 3/26/2016 | Erik Condra | TBL | 1 | Tripping | Rooney/Dwyer |
| 3/29/2016 | Shea Weber | NSH | 1 | Cross-checking | L'Ecuyer/Dwyer |
| 4/3/2016 | Frank Vatrano | BOS | 1 | Holding | Watson/Kowal |
| 4/7/2016 | Alex Ovechkin | WSH | 1 | Cross-checking | Jackson/Watson |
| 4/7/2016 | Richard Panik | CHI | 1 | Hooking | Rooney/L'Ecuyer |
| 4/9/2016 | Conor Sheary | PIT | 1 | Slashing | Skilliter/Furlatt |
| 4/9/2016 | Filip Forsberg | NSH | 1 | None | Watson/Morton |
The Predators were called for diving the most, with 6 occurrences, followed by the Bruins (5), then the Blackhawks (4), Lightning (4), Penguins (4), Panthers (4), and Oilers (4). The Sabres, Avalanche, Kings, Islanders, Senators, and Sharks were not called for embellishment.
Referee Brad Watson was on the ice for the most embellishment calls, 11, followed by Dean Morton, Evgeny Romasko, and Steve Kozari, all with 7.
2014-15 Divers
A total of ten fines were issued last year for diving. Only one player, Montreal’s P.K. Subban, was fined twice for diving/embellishment. Click here for 2014-15 Diving/Embellishment Fines
