Following a request from the Refereeing Department, the KHL Disciplinary Committee has investigated two incidents from Wednesday’s games in the Championship, and as a result, two players and a head coach are facing an enforced rest due to suspensions.

The first episode under scrutiny occurred in the 4th minute of the match in Cherepovets between Severstal and Sibir, when home forward Pavel Chernov collided with opposing forward Konstantin Okulov. The match officials saw nothing illegal, but after studying all the evidence the Committee judged Chernov guilty of injuring an opponent by checking to the head and neck area, for which he receives a major plus game misconduct penalty (5+20 minutes), a fine, and a two-game suspension.

The second incident was the 56th-minute foul in Bratislava by Avtomobilist forward Anatoly Golyshev on Slovan forward Vaclav Nedorost, after which the Yekaterinburg man was sent to the locker room for  injuring an opponent by checking to the head and neck area, Having reviewed all the evidence, the  Committee ruled that the foul was technically one of interference, as Nedorost was not in possession of the puck when the offense was committed. However, the major plus game misconduct penalty (5+20 minutes) remains in force and Golyshev also receives a fine and a three-game suspension.

Following the incident, Slovan head coach Milos Riha walked onto the playing surface and remonstrated with the match officials. It is an offense for a club official or representative to leave the players’ bench in such a manner during a match, and consequently Mr Riha receives a fine and a game misconduct penalty (5+20 minutes). As this is the Czech specialist’s second 20-minute penalty of the current season, he incurs an additional fine and an automatic one-game suspension.