Dallas Stars forward Antoine Roussel escaped suspension for his sucker punch on San Jose’s Justin Braun Saturday night, although he was fined the maximum $5,376.34 for the incident.
Roussel, an agitator extraordinaire, is known for piling up the penalty minutes. In 2013-14, he set a career high with 209 PIMs and crossed over 100 PIM in the two previous seasons he spent in the AHL. But although Roussel plays on the edge and is a regular visitor to the box, he had never been fined or suspended before Saturday’s incident.
On Monday, Roussel commented on the league’s decision to fine him for the punch, which he, somehow, thought was a fair fight.
“Obviously you don’t want to hurt anybody like that,” Roussel said. “I thought it was a fair fight for a second. When I saw he was tied up, I broke off.”
Sorry Antoine, but Braun looked pretty tied up by the linesman there from the start. Nevermind the hit on Antti Niemi that set off the scrum.
Roussel was then pressed about whether or not he thought he was getting a reputation for being a dirty player, to which he gave a blunt, unapologetic answer.
“I don’t care.”
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Roussel received a two-minute minor for goalie interference and a 10-minute misconduct on the play.
