Any NHL awards voters that had Jared Spurgeon on their Lady Byng ballot might want their vote back after what happened Monday night.
With the Minnesota Wild trailing 4-0 late in the third period of a series-opening game against the St. Louis Blues, the Wild captain cleared the puck off Pavel Buchnevich's stick before using his stick to cross-check the Blues forward's ankle area against the ice in a bout of frustration — an uncharacteristic play for a defenceman who's never amassed over 20 penalty minutes in a 12-year career.
According to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, the NHL's Department of Player Safety is reviewing the incident. Spurgeon received a two-minute minor penalty on the play.
"Didn't look at it. I'll look at it later," said Blues head coach Craig Berube after the game, according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.
Spurgeon finished as the runner-up to Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Jaccob Slavin for the Lady Byng Memorial trophy last season, which is annually awarded to the "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."
This season, the 32-year-old had 10 goals and 30 assists, averaging 21:09 of ice-time, yet only recorded 10 penalty minutes in 65 games.
"Reminder, for uh… well… no reason at all really, that PHWA ballots which include Lady Byng voting were due prior to puck drop on the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs," said Thomas Drance of Sportsnet The Fan 650's Canucks Hour on Twitter.
The Blues lead the first-round series 1-0. Game 2 takes place Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 360.
