NHL Notebook: League suspends Florida forward

The NHL suspended Florida Panthers forward Krys Barch for one game for an "inappropriate comment" directed toward Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban in a game Saturday between the two Eastern Conference foes.

Barch was given a match penalty at the end of the first period after a scrum between Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson and Montreal's Subban. The Miami Herald reported that an unnamed NHL official said that linesman Darren Gibbs threw him out for uttering a "racial slur" to Subban, who is black.

After a four-day delay, partly due to not wanting negative publicity to interfere with Monday's Winter Classic, the league conducted a telephone inquiry with Barch, his NHLPA representative and Panthers coach Kevin Dineen before practice at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink.

In mid-practice, Dineen came off the ice to take a phone call from the league offices in which he was informed of the decision rendered by Colin Campbell, executive president of hockey operations.

"There's no debate over what was said," Dineen said. "The context of the comments can and should be very debatable. I have a lot of respect for Krys Barch and the way he's handled himself the last five days, which have been extremely tough for him."

A source told the Sun Sentinel that the undisclosed comment was actually Barch teasing Subban for losing his balance during his tussle with Gubranson. "He said it looked like he was "slipping on a banana peel," the source said.

Gibbs' reaction might've stemmed from a racially charged incident during a preseason game in Ontario between the Flyers and Red Wings in which a fan threw a banana peel toward Wayne Simmonds, a black player for Philadelphia.

Barch said that Campbell told him if he had thought his comments were racially motivated he would've suspended him for "five to 10 games and this would've been done the day after."

"It may have been inappropriate, but it was nowhere along the lines of a racial slur or intent of," Barch said. "The things I said were pretty explicit and maybe not for kids' ears. That's why I can't repeat what I said. ... My grandmother wouldn't want to hear it."

Capitals

Washington center Nicklas Backstrom is practicing again, two days after taking an elbow to the head. Backstrom took part in the Capitals' full workout before departing with the team for a West Coast road trip.

Predators

Captain Shea Weber has been cleared to play in his return from a concussion that kept him out of four games, and he is expected to play for Nashville against Dallas. The defenseman was hurt Dec. 23 in a collision with Stars defenseman Mark Fistric and wound up missing four games.

Elsewhere

Police in Philadelphia are seeking the public's help identifying three men involved in a fight between Flyers and Rangers fans outside a cheesesteak shop following Monday's Winter Classic hockey game. The victim, Neal Auricchio Jr., an off duty Woodbridge, N.J. police officer who fought two tours in Iraq, returning to war even after a sniper blew apart one of his calf muscles, was sucker-punched and beaten unconscious by three Philadelphia fans.

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First published on January 6, 2012 at 12:00 am

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12006/1201674-61-0.stm?cmpid=sports.xml

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