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Bruins fans must be celebrating after Habs’ Subban gets fined $2,000 for diving

SHAFAQNA (International Shia News Association)- Boston Bruins fans must have been celebrating after the NHL announced on Feb. 4 that Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban had been fined $2,000 by the league under Rule 64 (diving/embellishment).

Rule 64, which was revised this season, is designed “to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties,” as described by the NHL.

Fines are assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale.

The NHL announced that Subban was issued a warning for diving/embellishment following a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 6. During a Jan. 29 game against the New York Rangers, Subban was given a minor penalty for embellishment, which resulted in the $2,000 fine being handed out.

Subban, who signed an eight-year, $72-million contract before this season, won’t miss the money, considering he earns an average of $109,756 per game.

During last season’s Canadiens-Bruins playoff series, the Montreal Gazette’s Brenda Branswell wrote about T-shirts that were being sold in Boston with “Canadien Dive Team” written on the front and Subban’s No. 76 on the back.

Subban’s fine came only four days before the Canadiens were to play the Bruins in Boston, which should boost sales of the “Canadien Dive Team” shirts.

One of the people who bought a T-shirt during last season’s playoffs was Subban’s father, Karl. You can read Branswell’s article below:

Give Karl Subban high marks for having a good sense of humour.

A few hours before the Canadiens played the Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday night, Subban bought one of the T-shirts being sold nearby that pokes fun at the Habs and his son P.K. The red T-shirt reads “Canadien Dive Team” — an allusion to the claim by some Bruins fans that the Habs have a penchant for diving.

It sports No. 76 on the back — P.K. Subban‘s number.

“I saw this shirt and I looked closely. I saw ’76’ and I read it and I saw what it said. My wife laughed. My son Malcolm is here and he laughed, too,” Karl Subban said.

“He plays for the Providence Bruins,” he said of Malcolm, who was drafted by the Bruins in the first round (24th overall) in the 2012 NHL entry draft.

“So I said ‘I better buy one.’ I know the fans here are having fun. And I want to have some fun with it, too. But really that’s all it’s about,” he said.

“It’s about having fun.”

A similar “dive team” T-shirt was a bestseller on the street the last time the Bruins faced the Canadiens in the playoffs, according to a staff member with ilovebostonsports.com, which was selling the T-shirts across the street from TD Garden.

Why No. 76 on the back of the T-shirt?

“Because it’s the Canadiens’ captain of the dive team,” said Matt Waugh, a manager with the sports apparel company.

Subban, who won the Norris Trophy last season as the NHL’s top defenceman, is booed by Bruins fans each time he touches the puck. It’s the same welcome Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara gets from Habs fans at the Bell Centre. Chara won the award in 2009 and is one of three finalists for the trophy this season.

The boos for Subban in Boston extended to the announcement of his goal Thursday, when he opened the scoring in the first period.

The silkscreened “dive team” T-shirts were printed on Thursday.

“Actually, they’re still warm if you touch them,” Waugh said, holding a pile of the shirts.

Told there is a perception in Montreal that the Canadiens make the Bruins lose their cool and take penalties, Waugh quipped: “That’s what the dive team is all about.”

“NBA players are known for flopping around and getting fouls, and stuff like that,” said Waugh.

“They’re like the National Hockey League NBA players flopping around the ice, making it look you got hit when you didn’t. That type of stuff.”

Lifelong Bruins fan Sueanne Chin bought a $20 “dive team” T-shirt.

It’s the whole team that dives, Chin said, but Subban “is definitely famous for it.”

Of course, Habs fans dispute diving assertions and many would probably point to YouTube to make the same claim about the Bruins.

Waugh, who was wearing a Bruins jersey, was pleased with the Boston-Montreal matchup.

“Not only is it good for hockey. It’s good for the city.

“And it’s a lot of fun for everyone to watch,” he said.

 

en.shafaqna.com

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