No word on Fiala yet
Published 2:12 pm Monday, April 6, 2015
It’s Monday afternoon and we have yet to hear from the WHL regarding whether Spokane defenseman Evan Fiala will be suspended for his kneeing major penalty from Saturday’s Game 5.
Fiala was handed the penalty and a game misconduct when he caught an onrushing Patrick Bajkov early in the second period of Game 5, which was won 4-3 in overtime by Spokane. Bajkov had to be helped off the ice, and he remained in the locker room for about 10 minutes before returning to the game.
Major penalties typically result in a suspension, though sometimes the league determines after the fact a penalty didn’t actually warrant a major and doesn’t issue a suspension.
As of 2:15 p.m. there was no sign of a suspension on the league’s discipline page. However, this season the league has announced when it isn’t issuing a suspension, and we haven’t seen one of those yet, either.
Fiala is a 17-year-old first-round bantam pick who provides size and a physical presence. He is pointless with seven penalty minutes and a minus-3 rating in five games in the series.
The other bit of news from today is that Everett winger Dawson Leedahl, who missed the past two games because of an undisclosed injury, did not practice today. That brings into question whether he’ll be able to come back for Game 6 Tuesday in Spokane.
