The National Hockey League handed out a pair of $2000 fines for diving/embellishment: one to Florida Panthers’ Nick Cousins and one to St. Louis Blues’ Oskar Sundqvist. Fines are issued after a player’s second infaction; both Cousins and Sundqvist have been previously warned about embellishment this season.
Cousins was issued a warning after the Panthers played the Chicago Blackhawks on November 4. He was not penalized on the play, nor did he draw a penalty with his dive.
His second occurrence came against the Buffalo Sabres on February 27. Cousins drew a roughing call on Buffalo’s Jordan Greenway; both players were also issued matching minors for roughing.
Sundqvist received a minor penalty for embellishment after he drew a tripping penalty call against Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle; he received a warning from the league after the game.
He committed a second embellishment on February 28 against the Edmonton Oilers, diving to the ice to draw an interference penalty against Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard. Sundqvist was not penalized.
The NHL issues fines after the second infraction, but does not publish a list of players who have received a warning.
Citations are issued by the National Hockey League Hockey Operations Department, which tracks all games, logs all penalties for diving or embellishment, and flags all plays not called on the ice that in its opinion were deserving of such a penalty. A Citation is issued once Hockey Operations, through its internal deliberations, is convinced that a player warrants sanction.
If Cousins or Sundqvist are caught diving again, their fines will increase to $3,000.
From the NHL:
NHL Rule 64 is designed to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties. Fines are assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale outlined below:
| Citation # | Player Fine(s) | Head Coach Fine(s)* |
| 1 | Warning | N/A |
| 2 | $2,000 | N/A |
| 3 | $3,000 | N/A |
| 4 | $4,000 | N/A |
| 5 | $5,000 | $2,000 |
| 6 | $5,000 | $3,000 |
| 7 | $5,000 | $4,000 |
| 8 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
* For head coaches, each FINE issued to a player on his club counts toward his total. Four FINES issued to one player or a club collectively results in the head coach receiving his first fine.
