The NHL’s Department of Player Safety got its preseason reps in Friday, fining Seattle Kraken defenseman Ville Ottavainen $2,190.72 for serving as the aggressor in Thursday night’s altercation with Calgary Flames forward Brennan Othmann.
The incident came 7:22 into the second period of Seattle’s 4-3 shootout win. After Othmann delivered a hit on Ottavainen in the corner, the Kraken defenseman grabbed his head, threw him to the ice, dropped the gloves, and started throwing punches. Flames defenseman Brayden Pachal dove in and tackled Ottavainen to break it up, with both teams coming together in the corner.
After referees Graham Skilliter and Ben Betker finished sorting things out, 41 penalty minutes were handed out. Ottavainen got two for instigating, five for fighting, and a game misconduct under Rule 46.2; Othmann received two for charging plus a 10-minute misconduct. Kraken forward Curtis Douglas picked up a roughing minor and misconduct.
Rule 46.2 handles aggressors in altercations:
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).
Ottavainen’s response seemed a bit disproportionate to the hit delieverd by Othmann. Thursday’s hit wasn’t the one that sparked the outburst, though. It was what happened when the two teams met on Sunday in Calgary. In that one, Othmann caught Ottavainen high along the boards with an elbow, earning himself a major penalty and a game misconduct.
No supplemental discipline came from the league for that hit, perhaps prompting Ottavainen to go looking for some street justice.
Kraken head coach Lane Lambert praised the way his blueliner reacted.
“I didn’t mind it,” Lambert said. “Othmann ran him in Calgary with a high hit and got kicked out of the game, you know. So really good job by Otto to respond to that. I don’t have a problem with that at all… Otto threw his gloves off and that was it.”
Seattle forward Matty Beniers also backed his Ottavainen.
“You gotta obviously show you care for your teammates,” Beneirs said. “You don’t want anyone to get hurt. It was a good little pushback.”
For the officials, it was a textbook aggressor call: Ottavainen continued throwing punches at an unwilling, defenseless opponent, earning the instigator and the DoPS fine.
For Player Safety, handing out a maximum fine in a preseason game sends a message without costing anyone ice time, including a chance to make the NHL roster. That’s the second fine handed out so far this postseason, after Washington’s Andrew Cristall got dinged for a crosscheck.
The Kraken close out their preseason Saturday in Vancouver, then open the regular season October 1… in Calgary against the Flames. The officials working that one might want to arrive early.
Ottavainen ‘s fine is the maximum allowable under the CBA without a formal hearing.
Officials for the game were referees Graham Skilliter (#24) and Ben Betker (#42), with Caleb Apperson (#77) and Travis Gawryletz (#67) on the lines. Skilliter and Apperson were also on duty for Othmann’s initial elbow on Sunday.
