NHL Suspends Sandstrom for Five Games

You know things are going badly for a hockey team when its suspension list starts to rival its injury list.

That is the case for the Kings, who learned Friday that wing Tomas Sandstrom would be joining Coach Tom Webster in temporary banishment from the NHL at the same time they learned that defenseman Rob Blake would be out for two weeks because of strained knee ligaments.

The league has suspended Sandstrom for five games for high-sticking defenseman Kevin Haller of the Buffalo Sabres at the Forum Nov. 14.

“I really thought it was a little stiff for what he has done,” King General Manager Rogie Vachon said. “Tomas had no previous record (of suspensions).

“(Haller) did not get hurt. He did not miss a minute. He did not miss a stride.”

Sandstrom was assessed a two-minute high-sticking penalty at the time, not a five-minute major. Referee Kerry Fraser later explained that he was out of position and could not see enough to penalize Sandstrom more.

But league officials said, after reviewing the videotape, that Sandstrom had deliberately tried to injure Haller.

In a similar case, the Calgary Flames’ Jamie Macoun knocked another Buffalo player, Pat LaFontaine, out of action for two months with his stick, breaking LaFontaine’s jaw and severing a facial artery. But Macoun was not suspended because it was decided that his action was unintentional.

The delay in announcing Sandstrom’s punishment was caused by the requirement to give him a league hearing. That hearing was held Wednesday.

It was also on Wednesday that NHL officials announced Webster’s 12-game suspension, longest for a coach in league history, for throwing a stick in anger that hit Fraser on Nov. 16, two days after the Sandstrom incident.

In Sandstrom’s case, the Kings have waived the right to appeal, meaning the King wing will begin serving his sentence when the Kings play the Quebec Nordiques on Dec. 7. Sandstrom also will miss games against the Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota North Stars and Detroit Red Wings. He is eligible to return Dec. 26.

Blake was hit in the right knee by Calgary’s Ronnie Stern Thursday night. Earlier this season, Blake missed 11 games because of a shoulder injury.