NHL suspends Senators’ Borowiecki one game for elbowing Bruins d-man Urho Vaakanainen
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki has been suspended one game for his elbow to the face of Boston Bruins defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday.
In his hearing with the league, Borowiecki insisted that he was not attempting to deliver a blow to Vaakanainen’s head, but that he was merely attempting to box him out from a potential scoring chance in front of the Ottawa net. But the Department of Player Safety noted that Borowiecki is still responsible for the reckless blow to the head, no matter the intent.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy called the play ‘a flying elbow,’ and felt that it was a fairly deliberate play on the part of Borowiecki. The team confirmed that the 19-year-old Vaakanainen was concussed on the elbow, and Cassidy admitted that he does not expect him to be able to go for Thursday’s head-to-head with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Borowiecki has been suspended once in his NHL career, but that was in 2016 and for an unrelated incident, so the league did not consider him to have any sort of ‘relevant history’ when handing down this one-game ban.
Under the terms of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Borowiecki will forfeit $6,451.61 in salary. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has also been a voting member of the Boston Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter @_TyAnderson.
