Former Wisconsin Badger Rene Bourque has been suspended by the NHL's Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan for five games for a vicious elbow to the head of Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom this is after being suspended on December 19th by the NHL for his hit on Brent Seabrook. Apparently Bourque doesn't like playing against the Wild, because he has missed the Flames last two games against the Wild. Rene Bourque is a repeat offender and will have served a total of seven games of suspension.
NEW YORK -- Calgary Flames forward Rene Bourque has been suspended for five games and will forfeit $203,252.05 in salary for delivering an elbow to the head of Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom during NHL Game #563 in Washington on Tuesday, Jan. 3, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.
Bourque, who was suspended last month, is classified as a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Accordingly, he forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (185). The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The incident occurred at 10:06 of the third period. A minor penalty for elbowing was assessed on the play.
Bourque will miss games Jan. 5 at Boston, Jan. 7 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 10 vs. New Jersey, Jan. 12 vs. Anaheim and Jan. 14 vs. Los Angeles. He will be eligible to return Jan. 17 at San Jose.
