Stars’ Marchment escapes discipline for stick tap on referee
If you want to stay on the good side of the referees, you should probably avoid taking a page from Mason Marchment’s book.
If you want to stay on the good side of the referees, you should probably avoid taking a page from Mason Marchment‘s book.
In Game 3 of the second-round playoff series between the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets, Marchment committed quite the faux pas.
Acting out of clear frustration, stemming from what he believed were two missed penalties against him, the Stars forward used his stick to tap the shin pads of referee Graham Skilliter.
Marchment’s action immediately followed being whacked to the side by Jets forward Mark Scheifele, which received no call.
“You can’t make contact with an official under any circumstances,” said Sportsnet’s Kelly Hrudey on the Hockey Central panel during the second intermission.
“You can be as frustrated as humanly possible, but you can’t contact them.”
Marchment received no discipline in-game for the action, even though Rule 40.1 in the NHL’s official rule book states, “Any player who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official, in any manner attempts to injure an official, physically demeans, or deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall receive a game misconduct penalty.”
At the start of the third period, it appeared that Marchment apologized to Skilliter.
“I checked, there’s no penalty right now as we’re sitting here, but at the end of the game, it’s up to the official,” added Elliotte Friedman. “They could write an abuse of officials report, if they wanted to.”
After the game, Friedman added that the league discussed the incident, but it was the on-ice official’s call whether it qualified as an abuse of officials violation. The on-ice officials said it did not, so no further action would be taken.
