Couple more facts: Neither coach was fined, the players remain on the salary cap and roster and also continue to get paid.
Brad Jones:
The punishment is based on what I thought was fitting. The fact that both teams are losing a player for a significant amount of time and they remain on the salary cap comes into play.
On Lawmaster: I look at it that he's getting fined and did receive a game misconduct for being the aggressor. I felt that the situation behind the net could have been called a little differently which could have played a role in this.
David Franke:
I was a little surprised that Brad got 15 games, but when you look at it he got pretty physical with the linesman. I don't have a problem with what Brad (MacMillan) did. He came to the aid of a teammate. He knows in the future he has to stay in the box and let the guys on the ice handle this.
The one thing we can't do is let the league turn into a "Slapshot" type of deal, and I think that's one of the reasons Brad Jones ruled as harshly as he did. We want more physical play, but we don't want Pier 6 brawls and we don't want abuse of officials. I also think the league ruling is fine except Lawmaster in my opinion should have gotten a suspension.
Brad MacMillan:
It's not a surprise. I knew I was getting suspended. I'm a little disappointed in the reprimand in the fact that Lawmaster gets nothing out of this. I wouldn't change anything I did besides I wouldn't have touched the official.
It's important that the fans enjoy the game and have a good time, but I wwant to make sure
