As rumored earlier today, Anthony DeAngelo of the Arizona Coyotes will face a three-game suspension for his abuse of official David Brisebois on Saturday night. He’ll be eligible for return on January 13th against the Winnipeg Jets.
After an altercation with the Flames’ Sam Bennett, DeAngelo argued with Brisbois and tried to forcefully remove himself from the linesman’s grasp. DeAngelo was given a match penalty for it during the game, and will now sit out for almost two weeks because of a schedule quirk for Arizona.
[Gif of the incident via Scouting The Refs]
Remember that DeAngelo was also suspended for eight games back in 2014 for violating the OHL’s abuse/diversity policy. The comments that caused his suspension were directed at a teammate in this case.
Despite his trouble with suspensions, DeAngelo remains a top prospect for the Coyotes, who acquired him from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a second-round pick (37th overall) this summer. His high upside has trumped any personal issues he’s had in the past, though this new offense is a serious one.
DeAngelo has nine points in 20 games in his rookie season this year, playing almost 19 minutes a night. He’s been a big part of their powerplay thus far, and has huge offensive upside to his game.
Well maybe if officials would keep their noses out of action between 2 players this wouldn’t happen. The NHL is the only major sport where officials are allowed to grab the players
The NHL is also one of the only sports that openly allows fighting, so naturally you’re going to have a different standard with the officials. He overreacted, as obviously he has before, and now he’s paying the price for his immaturity. Other guys in the league who get into the same altercations every night don’t seem to mind the officials stepping in or at least care enough to act out aggressively toward the official, because they are professionals.