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Carey Price will not have hearing for yesterday’s actions

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price will not face disciplinary actions for his roughing penalty last night on New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri.

People noticed that Price was in violation of rule 51.3 which states that if, at the discretion of the official, if a goaltender uses his blocker with the intent to deliberately injure, he is subject to a match penalty. In this case the official decided he was not deliberately attempting to injure his opponent.

Price only received a double minor for roughing on the play, and many thought he should be suspended.

The wording is key here. Let’s go to the rule:

“51.3 Match Penalty – If, in the judgment of the Referee, a goalkeeper uses his blocking glove to punch an opponent in the head or face in an attempt to or to deliberately injure an opponent, a match penalty must be assessed.”

Goalies clocking a player in the face with a blocker never receives a match penalty in this league, despite it being part of the rules. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the way the rules have been applied in the past. And it’s worth noting that an incident like this involving a blocker to the head has rarely, if ever, resulted in a suspension.

Price got away with one by not being kicked out of the game after his mauling of Palmieri, but there was clearly no need for supplemental discipline.

editor’s note: The article was updated to reflect that yes, Price was clearly trying to inflict pain on his opponent. In reality, Price probably should have been kicked out of the game at the time of the outburst.

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