Biggest Punishment for Brawl Is $500 Fine for Oilers’ Anderson

Edmonton Oiler right wing Glenn Anderson, who threw the most damaging blow in Wednesday night’s record-setting brawl with the Kings, will not be suspended.

After a league hearing Friday in Toronto, NHL officials decided to fine Anderson $500 for his part in a fight with the Kings’ Tomas Sandstrom that resulted in a fracture on the right side of Sandstrom’s face and a scratched cornea on his right eye.

The $500 fine is automatic since Anderson was slapped with a 10-minute penalty, one of a league-record 86 penalties handed out Wednesday.

“They say they don’t want violence in the league,” King owner Bruce McNall said when informed of the Anderson decision, “and then this is what they do. It’s a disgrace. It’s a joke.”

Added King General Manager Rogie Vachon, who still hadn’t formally been informed of the league decision, “I would be very surprised if that’s all they do.

“When you throw a sucker punch like he (Anderson) did, he should get suspended for many games. If you go at it toe-to-toe and break a bone, that’s one thing. But when a guy is tied up like Sandstrom was, to throw a sucker punch, that’s. . . .”

The league still plans to review a crosscheck by Brian Benning Wednesday that left the Oilers’ Jari Kurri with a bruise behind one ear.