Leafs F Grabovski banned 3 games
TORONTO -- Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski received an automatic three-game suspension without pay for shoving an official during a game Thursday in Montreal.
The NHL suspended Grabovski on Friday for pushing linesman Scott Cherrey at the end of a melee in the third period when Grabovski and Canadiens forward Sergei Kostitsyn were trying to get at one another.
Rule 41.4 -- category III states: "Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall be suspended for not less than three games."
Grabovski's suspension starts immediately. He'll be eligible to return on Jan. 16 in Atlanta.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
