Is The Fine Enough?

Never one to shy away from problems or altercations, he can play when he puts his mind to it, but this was not the case when he took a cheap shot at Wing’s player DeKeyser

For his actions he was fined $5,000 by the NHL for the infraction (spear) Saturday and discussed it in full with the media after practice and also stated that he did not call DeKeyser a chicken.

“It was kind of a heat of the moment thing when you’re not thinking and you do something like that,” Lucic said. “I’ve been in the league for seven years and I think I’ve only done that three times. I don’t know why I did it. I believe in playing within the rules and for me I definitely won’t be heading down that road again.”

We’ll see about that.

The $5,000 fine seems light, considering Lucic has a bit of a history with this kind of cowardice, but it’s the type of ruling we should expect in the playoffs.

Chances are that he will not get suspended for this, but one has to ask about Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville may have been fined $25,000 for his crotch-grab protest Thursday, but he’s not ruled on by the current CBA.

The biggest mistake that was made was by the on-ice officials who did not call a penalty on the play and given the timing of the infraction and what is at stake in the game a penalty would have hurt Lucic and his team more.

Detroit should have started the third period with an almost fresh two-minute power play in a 0-0 game, but as we all know, fewer penalties are called in the post-season.

This is due to the fact that the officials want to advance and are still being assessed and controlled by those who complain.