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Emery and the Aggressor Rule |
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For those of you out there wondering why Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ray Emery will not be suspended for his actions in his fight yesterday with Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, the answer is in the NHL Rulebook. I'm not saying I personally agree with it, but there is precedent and a protocol that got followed in this case.
Rule 46.2 under the
fighting penalties section of the NHL Rulebook specifically covers situations involving an unwilling combatant in a fight, as Holtby was in this case. It is called the "Agressor" rule, and it covers how to penalize and deal with Emery's actions.
Aggressor (46.2)
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).
Last night in Philadelphia, referees Dennis LaRue and Francois St. Laurent invoked the set of penalties specified above within the Aggressor rule when penalizing Emery. They handled it exactly by the book, like it or not (and I do not personally like it).
The rule as written notes the NHL's disciplinary protocol that generally gets applied in these cases. Emery gets one "strike" apiece against him in the progression toward potential automatic suspension. He gets a strike for a potential future suspension for accumulated instigation penalties and separately gets a strike for a possible future suspension for accumulated game misconducts.
In other words, folks, there will be no suspension or hearing for Emery this time as a first-time violator of the rule.
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Recent Blogs by Paul Stewart
Hockey Fights Cancer: My Story
Delay of Game: Good Intentions, Bad Rules
Too Many Mississippis: The Hanzal Suspension
Unholy Divers and the Abominable PC Rulebook
The 'Montreal Factor' and Refereeing
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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born person to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the only American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Today, Stewart is a judicial and league discipline consultant for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials, while also maintaining a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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