If there is anything we have learned over the history of professional sports, it’s that there are two groups of people you aren’t allowed to touch. Those are officials and spectators. We’ve all seen it before with Roberto Alomar, Ron Artest, and the late Rick Rypien.
This time New York Rangers player Daniel Carcillo, 29, was booted from Game 3 of the Eastern final for shoving a linesman while being escorted to the penalty box. The video below shows that he appeared to give an elbow and a 2-handed shove to Linesman Scott Driscoll. He was given a Game Misconduct in the moment and further went on to receive a 10-game suspension by the NHL. The Rangers have a maximum of nine games remaining this season provided the Rangers and Canadiens play a seven-game series and the Stanley Cup Final goes the distance. Chances are we won’t see him play until next fall.
The NHL detailed the exact violation by Carcillo:
At 14:09 of the first period, Carcillo physically applied force to Linesman Scott Driscoll while being escorted to the penalty box. Rule 40.3 Physical Abuse of Officials — Category II states: “Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner (excluding actions as set out in Category I), which physical force is applied without intent to injure, or who spits on an official, shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games.”
If you haven’t seen video of the incident, you can see it here.