New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton has been fined $2,000 for diving/embellishment.
Hamilton’s first infraction came on November 4 against the Edmonton Oilers. He drew a slashing penalty call against Zach Hyman.
His second citation came against the New York Rangers on December 23. Hamilton was given a minor penalty for embellishment; New York’s Brett Berard picked up a matching minor for hooking on the play.
Hamilton is the third player to receive a fine for diving/embellishment this season. Edmonton Oilers forward Jeff Skinner and Josh Norris of the Ottawa Senators have also both been issued $2,000 fines.
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.
