Edmonton Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto has been fined for tripping after a slewfoot on Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson.

 

 

The dangerous trip came with 5:48 remaining in the first period of Saturday’s game in Edmonton.

Yamamoto received a minor penalty for tripping on the play from referees Brad Meier and Kendrick Nicholson.

Here’s the rule in play:

Rule 57 – Tripping:  A player shall not place the stick, knee, foot, arm, hand or elbow in such a manner that causes his opponent to trip or fall.

Accidental trips which occur simultaneously with a completed play will not be penalized. Accidental trips occurring simultaneously with or after a stoppage of play will not be penalized.

A minor penalty shall be imposed on any player who shall place his stick or any portion of his body in such a manner that it shall cause his opponent to trip and fall.

There’s no major or match penalty for tripping, no matter how flagrant or dangerous.

Note that the penalty and suspension was for tripping, not for slew-footing, which has its own specific section in the rule book:

Rule 52 – Slew-footing:  Slew-footing is the act of a player using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.

Any player who is guilty of slew-footing shall be assessed a match penalty.

Yamamoto pulls backward on Andersson’s left arm prior to kicking out his skate.

Certainly, the penalty for a slew-foot is far more severe in game.  Both the referees and Player Safety felt that this play did not meet those qualifications.  If it had, Yamamoto would have been tossed from the game, and the Flames given a five-minute power play.

For comparison, here’s the NHL’s Video Rulebook explanation of a slew-foot:

 

 

Yamamoto went on to score the game-tying goal in an eventual 3-2 Oilers win.

The fine to Yamamoto is the maximum allowable under the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.