National Hockey League Executive Vice President Brian O`Neill ruled Friday that Edmonton defenseman Craig Muni must serve a two-game suspension for his kneeing of Hawks winger Greg Gilbert in Game 2 of the Campbell Conference finals.
Gilbert tore loose scar tissue in a knee from the incident when Muni stuck out a knee to trip him up. That sidelined him for Games 3 and 4 in Edmonton.
The Oilers had hoped to get O`Neill to issue a similar suspension against Hawks winger Jocelyn Lemieux, who received a five-minute penalty and game misconduct in Game 3 for slamming his stick into Dave Maley`s face. Lemieux explained he was trying to lift Maley`s stick off of him when he lost control of his stick.
After reviewing the film, O`Neill decided not to suspend Lemieux.
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”I didn`t think he should be suspended,” coach Mike Keenan said. ”It`s not unlike every other incident of this kind (when suspensions aren`t meted out).”
Oilers coach Ted Green also defended Muni. He felt the hit was more of a hip check than a knee. ”The league is equating the two,” he said. ”Hip checking has become a lost art. It took a great deal of timing and skill to do right.”
Keenan responded: ”That was no hip check.”
O`Neill said: ”There is no indication the player deliberately set out to injure his opponent, but one must be held responsible for the consequences of his actions.”
If the truth be known, the Hawks think Muni is simply being paid back for injuring three other players in the last two years before Gilbert with similar tactics.
– The Hawks waited until Saturday morning to return to Chicago. They didn`t depart immediately after the game as they did in St. Louis and Detroit in the first two rounds. That`s because it takes 1/2 hours to go between Edmonton and Chicago.