There was a serious incident in the Finnish Liiga that made headlines. The focus is on the brother of an ICEHL defender.
Experienced Danish international Oliver Lauridsen, brother of HC Pustertal defender Markus Lauridsen, from TPS Turku was banned for eight games after a brutal check on Petteri Riihinen from Ässät Pori.
The incident occurred on Saturday when Lauridsen hit Riihinen in the head. Riihinen was knocked out while Lauridsen received a match penalty, the equivalent of a red card. The Liiga disciplinary committee found that the player who was hit had the puck and could in principle be attacked according to the rules, but the direction of the check to the head was avoidable. The commission also assessed Lauridsen’s behavior as disrespectful because he was the third player to intervene in the situation and thus endanger the safety of the opponent.
Despite the suspension, Ässät director Sami Hautamäki said that Riihinen was doing well given the circumstances.
However, the case has attracted political attention, as Flashscore reports. Otto Meri, a lawyer and member of the Finnish Samlingspartiet (coalition party), commented on social media that Lauridsen’s action could fall under criminal law: “Under the criminal law, this would probably be classified as grievous bodily harm. The minimum sentence for this is one year in prison.”
The suspension means that Lauridsen will probably not play again this season. TPS Turku is currently two points shy of a playoff spot and the suspension will carry over into next season. Ässät won the game 5-2 and qualified for the playoffs.
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