Bettman Brings the Hammer: Senators and Cousins Face NHL Punishment

The Battle of Ontario has been red-hot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs thus far, and ahead of an overtime thriller on Thursday, we saw even more drama between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators.

Ahead of the game, former teammates Nick Cousins and Anthony Stolarz were clearly talking trash to one another, leading to Cousins shooting a puck in Stolarz' direction.

Somehow, the NHL found this worthy of an investigation, as Elliotte Friedman notes they are not huge fans of things happening pre-game, and now, Gary Bettman and the NHL's Department of Player Safety have swung the hammer, handing down two major fines.

The first was a $2,083.33 fine handed to the veteran forward Cousins, but as noted by Frank Seravalli, the league also fined the Senators organization $25,000 for the smallest of altercations before the game.

Unsurprisingly, fans have been shocked at the reaction from the NHL, but given how inconsistent the league is on many of these rulings, it's tough to know exactly what is going to happen with the NHL's DoPS once they officially become involved in a situation.

Thankfully, the fine for Cousins isn't that big, as a player earning the money he does can easily part ways with $2,000, and while $25,000 won't hurt the Senators, the principle behind this fine is ridiculous, and if they're fining players and a team for such a small infraction, it's tough to see what is allowed by the league moving forward.