The NHL suspended Calgary goalie Jamie McLennan for five games on Sunday, fined coach Jim Playfair US$25,000 and fined the team US$100,000 for actions late in Game 5 of the Flames' first-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
McLennan was given a match penalty for slashing Detroit's Johan Franzen in the midsection at 17:01 of the third period, one of four penalties the Flames were assessed for aggressive and illegal use of the stick, including slashing or cross-checking, in the closing minutes of the Red Wings' 5-1 victory.
"In our pre-playoff conference calls with the coaches and general managers of the respective organizations, we addressed a number of topics and one of them was actions late in the game when the score was out of hand," NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell said. "The coach and the organization must be held accountable for the players' actions."
McLennan's suspension was to begin with Game 6 on Sunday night in Calgary. Detroit led the series 3-2.
Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek said Flames captain Jarome Iginla was partly to blame for Calgary's chippy play.
Iginla took hooking and cross-checking minors in the final minute.
"Even their captain, he should be in charge and he was one of the guys who probably embarrassed himself because of too many penalties for no reason," Hasek said before Game 6. "I think it was embarrassing. If I watched the game on TV, I would be very disappointed as a fan."
Iginla was unavailable to immediately respond to Hasek's comments because he had left the Pengrowth Saddledome following the Flames' pre-game skate.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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