Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky avoided suspension for his hit Tuesday night on Rob Scuderi but was hit with a $10,000 fine, the maximum for first time offenders under the new collective bargaining agreement.
There was no concussion – Scuderi suffered a black eye and some upper body numbness – and was able to practice at full speed under normal circumstances with the team at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday afternoon.
On how he’s feeling:
“I’m fine. The bark’s worse than the bite. It looks worse than it is. But I’m OK.”
On what he remembers about the play:
“I just remember turning to go get the loose puck. He chipped it in, I turned to get a loose puck and tried to get it over behind the net to my partner. I remember everything. I know I got hit pretty much from behind. It didn’t feel that great, but after a couple of moments, you gather yourself. I felt OK.”
On whether he had to follow any concussion protocols:
“They asked me. The trainers are pretty diligent about what their responsibilities are. They were on me and made sure I was OK and followed whatever protocol they needed to. No worse for wear. No lingering effects.”
On whether he’s seen a replay of the hit:
“I have not seen the hit yet…But I know that it probably wasn’t the way 95% of forwards would do it in this league.”
On Dubinsky being fined $10,000 by the league:
“I said last night, that’s always been the league’s decision. It’s not my job to hand out the discipline. It’s theirs.”
On whether he plans on watching a replay of the hit:
“If I see it, I see it. It’s not like I’m going to go on YouTube and go check it out. But if I happen to see it during the course of video or plays or something else, it’s not like I’m not going to look at it.”
On whether anything was done Tuesday night to take care of the swelling:
“Not really. I know when I came back during the second period it was still pretty puffy in the bottom, so I couldn’t see all the way down. But I had an ice pack on it between the second and third period, and it really helped a lot. It just knocked down the swelling. It was OK. It fortunately didn’t swell shut. It was puffy, but like I said, it was OK, and by the third period, I was fine.”
On whether there was pain in his shoulder after the hit:
“I guess the trainers technically call it a stinger. Kind of your neck and down your shoulder goes numb for a little bit. But like I said, after a few minutes, you take a few deep breaths, and you’re able to regain yourself and feel OK.”
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.