- The NHL fined Jamie Benn the max allowable for cross-checking Hartman
- Benn cross-checked Hartman in the head and back during Game 5
- Watch below for the play that drew the fine
The NHL fined Jamie Benn $2,604.17 on Wednesday for his cross-check on Ryan Hartman in Game 5 of the Stars-Wild first-round series.
That number is the maximum allowable fine for Benn under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. Read it again. The most the league can take from a Stars captain making over $9 million is roughly the cost of a nice dinner.
Watch the play below:
The sequence started with Hartman delivering a high hit on Benn near the Wild net. Benn responded with a cross-check to Hartman’s back, then a second one that caught him in the head. Hartman got two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Benn got two for cross-checking. The Wild won 4-2 to take a 3-2 series lead.
The optics are terrible. Two grand for a cross-check to the head from a captain who has been chirped at all series. Benn slew-footed Matt Boldy in Game 2 and has a list of other uncalled plays from this series alone.
The NFL fined Josh Allen $14,491 for a touchdown celebration last season. NHL Player Safety levied less than a fifth of that for a stick to the head.
The CBA cap is the real problem. The NHLPA negotiated those numbers and they have not aged well. A 50-goal scorer barely notices this hit to his bank account.
The double standard with regular season is the other issue. Hartman himself was suspended three games and lost over $62,000 in 2024 for tossing a stick at officials after a regular-season game. Benn cross-checks a guy in the head during a playoff game and the league cuts a check for less than five percent of that.
It will probably take another Bertuzzi-Moore situation before any of this changes. I hope it does not.
In the meantime, why would Benn change anything? The math is on his side.
