Not being a repeat offender helped Gustav Nyquist’s case when he got only six games for dangerous high stick to the face of Jared Spurgeon. One repeat offender doesn’t sound too happy with the system.
One day after the Red Wings forward was handed the first suspension of his NHL career, Zac Rinaldo -- currently injured while playing in the AHL for the Providence Bruins -- tweeted that he would have been jailed if he committed the same penalty as Nyquist.
Nyquist whacked Spurgeon in the face Sunday in response to a cross-check he’d just taken from the Minnesota defenseman. He was given a two-minute minor for high-sticking, followed by an in-person hearing with the Department of Player Safety that resulted in his suspension.
Rinaldo last played in the NHL on Feb. 28 of last season, a game in which he committed a hit on Tampa Bay's Cedric Paquette and earned a five-game suspension. In his NHL career, Rinaldo has been suspended four times. He was also suspended in the AHL in his first game with Providence.
This is not the first time that a Bruins player has tweeted about the NHL’s inconsistency when it comes to disciplining players. Brad Marchand tweeted a video of an Alexei Emelin hit on him to the NHL in December, writing, “this hit cost me 7 games and half a million dollars. Way to be consistent.” He deleted the tweet shortly after.