Carson Soucy, come on down!
Soucy will be the latest contestant to spin Player Safety’s Wheel of Justice. The Minnesota defenseman is facing disciplinary action in response to a high hit on Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland.
Soucy picked up a major penalty for elbowing on the play from referees Garrett Rank and Peter MacDougall. From the NHL rulebook:
Elbowing shall mean the use of an extended elbow in a manner that may or may not cause injury.
45.2 Minor Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a minor penalty, based on the degree of violence, to a player guilty of elbowing an opponent.
45.3 Major Penalty – A major penalty, at the discretion of the Referee, shall be imposed on any player who uses his elbow to foul an opponent. A major penalty must be imposed under this rule for a foul resulting in an injury to the face or head of an opponent. When a major penalty is imposed under this rule for a foul resulting in an injury to the face or head of an opponent, a game misconduct penalty shall also be imposed.
45.4 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent by elbowing.
He also picked up a few punches via some prairie justice from Arizona’s Lawson Crouse. The two were given matching fighting majors, with Crouse also getting cited for instigator and being the aggressor in an altercation.
That one doesn’t come up too frequently. Here’s a refresher:
46.2 Aggressor – The aggressor in an altercation shall be the player who continues to throw punches in an attempt to inflict punishment on his opponent who is in a defenseless position or who is an unwilling combatant.
A player must be deemed the aggressor when he has clearly won the fight but he continues throwing and landing punches in a further attempt to inflict punishment and/or injury on his opponent who is no longer in a position to defend himself.
A player who is deemed to be the aggressor of an altercation shall be assessed a major penalty for fighting and a game misconduct. A player who is deemed to be the aggressor of an altercation will have this recorded as an aggressor of an altercation for statistical and suspension purposes.
A player who is deemed to be both the instigator and aggressor of an altercation shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major penalty for fighting, a ten-minute misconduct (instigator) and a game misconduct penalty (aggressor).
Here’s where the aggressor penalty adds up:
46.17 – A player who is deemed to be the aggressor for the third time in one Regular season shall be suspended for the next two regular season games of his team. For the fourth aggressor penalty in the same Regular season, the player will be suspended for the next four games of his team. For the fifth aggressor penalty in the same Regular season, the player will be suspended for the next six games of his team.
No word on if the league will have a quick chat with Crouse, even as a warning.
They’ve already placed the call to Soucy. It’s almost time to spin that wheel.