Antoine Roussel Fined For Biting Sharks' Marc-Edouard Vlasic

NHL Player Safety announced on Saturday that Vancouver Canucks forward Antoine Roussel would be fined $5,000 for biting San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic during a scuffle in Friday’s game. The fight came in the dying embers of a 4-0 Sharks blowout. Roussel, who bit Vlasic’s hand when it came near his face, picked up his fifth penalty of the night for his role in the scrum.

According to ESPN, Roussel ranks second in the NHL for penalty minutes this season with 65, just one minutes behind the Boston’s Brad Marchand.

The most surprising thing about this is how $5,000 is the maximum fine for such an infraction under the current CBA, per NHL Player Safety. One has to think that this sort of move is five figures minimum in a sport like the NBA or the NFL. Whoever negotiated that part of the deal for NHL players should work with players in other leagues for their next CBA negotiations because that fine seems like chump change for what it could have been (i.e. a suspension).