Toronto Maple Leafs' Mikhail Grabovski will be meeting with the NHL's disciplinary committee after an alleged bite during Toronto's 6-0 thrashing of the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
According to NHL.com, Grabovski was supposed to meet with the NHL on Sunday, but the hearing was postponed to Monday. The bite supposedly occurred during a scrum at the 11:30 mark of the third period when the score was already 5-0 in favor of Toronto. Grabovski was tangled up with Canadiens Max Pacioretty when he supposedly bit the Montreal player. Grabovski was issued a 10-minute misconduct and roughing minor after the incident.
"I saw the bite and it's on the video and I'm sure the league is going to pay attention to that," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien told the press after the game.
Montreal defense-man Josh Gorges added "that doesn't belong in our sport. If you get in there, stand up for yourself, be a man, drop your gloves, and you'll have respect. But bite somebody? That doesn't belong in our league."
Toronto coach Randy Carlyle defended his player and blamed Montreal's Brandon Prust for being an instigator. "Well, Prust, we know what kind of player he is and he goes out and cheap shots Grabovski. Well, what are we supposed to do?" Carlyle added, "We're not supposed to play the rest of our players for the rest of the night? Well, they've got another thing coming. That's not happening to our group."
There was a biting incident in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals when Vancouver's Alex Burrows supposedly bit Boston's Patrice Bergeron. New York Islanders' John Tavares was also presumably bitten while playing in Switzerland during the lockout.
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