Byfuglien boards Pominville; could Player Safety Dept. be calling?

Late in Sunday night’s entertaining and impressive 5-4 Winnipeg Jets victory over their division rival the Minnesota Wild, Dustin Byfuglien drove a prone Jason Pominville into the boards. The hit resulted in Pominville skating woozily to the bench, as Byfuglien was assessed a minor for boarding and escorted into the penalty box.

Could Byfuglien be hearing from the NHL Department of Player Safety as a result of the hit?

This one is a tough call, but it’s worth noting that the NHL’s on-ice officials have a tremendous amount of discretion when assessing the severity of the penalty handed out for boarding. There’s no change in the boarding rule’s definition that differentiates a minor from a major penalty, it’s really up to the referee. So that the officials handed out just a minor penalty in this instance  may prove instructive.

Though the onus was probably on Byfuglien to minimize contact on this play, and he opted to drive Pominville forcefully into the boards instead, Pominville was still in the act of playing the puck at the time of contact. It’s not as if the skilled Wild winger was out of the play at the time of the hit.

Also working in Byfuglien’s favour here is that while Pominville seemed shaken up following the hit he returned to the game and was on the ice for the final minute and change of the contest.

On the other hand, Byfuglien isn’t very far removed from being assessed a four game suspension for viciously cross-checking J.T. Miller last April. So he is a repeat offender, which may result in this hit getting a particularly extensive look at the NHL offices on Sunday night. 

My sense of it is that this hit probably won’t warrant a suspension. Generally speaking, the Department of Player Safety’s boarding suspensions are for very blatant hits from behind – think Nikita Nesterov on Curtis McKenzie, or Joakim Nordstrom on Oliver Ekman-Larsson – that result in injury. 

Overall I’d think that the hitter’s identity is the only compelling reason why there’d be any suspense about whether or not the Department of Player Safety will opt to take supplemental disciplinary action. A fine wouldn’t be shocking, but I’d be pretty surprised if Byfuglien had a hearing as a result of this play.