Arizona Coyotes: DeAngelo Suspended Three Games For Abuse of Official

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Anthony DeAngelo has been suspended three games for physical abuse of an official.

Anthony DeAngelo won’t be playing with the Arizona Coyotes for at least the next three games.

He’s been suspended by the NHL for violating Rule 40.4 Physical Abuse of Official.

The suspension will cost him $14,388.90 in forfeited salary.

The incident occurred in the Coyotes’ contest against the Calgary Flames.

The two teams have had some heated affairs this season involving multiple fights, including one which injured winger Max Domi and put him out of the lineup for at least six weeks.

From Scouting the Refs: “At the end of the second period, the two teams came together with Calgary’s Sam Bennett and DeAngelo exchanging gloved jabs as the horn sounded.

The officials quickly moved in to break up the scrum and separate the players.”

DeAngelo mouthed off as he struggled to get free from Brisebois.  Instead of getting loose, he found himself escorted to the locker room, done for the night.

Needless to say, putting your hands on the officials is not a good idea.

Tony D was assessed a game misconduct immediately, and now it appears he will miss time.

After the game, Arizona Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett said that he didn’t want to comment on DeAngelo incident until he looked at it.

Considering the circumstances, it seems likely that this incident could earn DeAngelo a demotion back to the Tucson Roadrunners.

Anthony DeAngelo began the season in Tucson and has been sent back down once already.

He’s also been a healthy scratch for Tipp’s club, and it would seem likely that the organization will frown upon this incident and wish to make a further example.

DeAngelo himself has a history of abusing officials and even teammates, which is presumably why the Coyotes and John Chayka were able to acquire the defender from Tampa Bay at the 2016 NHL Draft.

In junior hockey, DeAngelo was suspended on three different occasions.

The first time it was a five game suspension. His second suspension was for eight games for directing a slur at a teammate and violating the OHL’s abuse/diversity policy.

His third infraction was a two game suspension for abusing the officials.

The 21-year-old’s baggage was known by the Arizona Coyotes and there had been no news of any issues thus far in his brief stay in the desert.

With that said, it remains to be seen how Dave Tippett and John Chayka will handle the incident moving forward.

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Will he remain on the roster, or be further punished by a trip back to Tucson?

I’m sure we’ll have the answer soon enough.