Zemgus Girgensons was suspended for Latvia’s World Championship game today by the IIHF for nailing Slovak defenseman Branislav Mezei in the gut with the butt end of his stick. It was a minor infraction committed in the heat of battle, so I wasn’t gong to do more than put a link to it in today’s Daily Links. But that was before I saw this Tweet:
Šodien pamācīju kā jāspēlē minigolfs @zemgus94 un freibergam twitter.com/miksindrasis/s…
— Miks Indrasis (@miksindrasis) May 10, 2013
Yes, after being suspended by the IIHF, Zemgus Girgensons went mini-golfing. I like to imagine he found out about the suspension, then decided to blow off some steam with his buddies at the Swedish version of Chuck E. Cheese rather than sit around and stew about the decision.
Hey, Zemgus, if you’re ever suspended for a few games in Buffalo, I know this great place on Sheridan Drive called Adventure Landing…
Here’s the full press release from the IIHF:
HELSINKI – The 2013 IIHF Independent Disciplinary Panel has issued a one-game suspension to Latvia forward Zemgus Girgensons for butt-ending his stick on a Slovak player. Girgensons will miss his team’s next game on Saturday, 11 May against Germany.
The incident occurred during at 15:47 of first period in the game between Slovakia and Latvia on Thursday evening, with the score 2-1 for Latvia. In retaliation to a check by Slovak defenceman Branislav Mezei, Girgensons hit Mezei in the stomach with the butt end of his stick. The game ended with a 5-3 victory for the Latvians.
After reviewing the video evidence and the respective reports including the referee supervisor report and the report from the hearing with the player, the Disciplinary Panel decided to suspend Girgensons for one game. The play was determined to be an infraction of rule 521b “Butt-Ending” of the IIHF Rulebook. Girgensons will return for his team’s game against France.