Wisconsin senior forward Matt Doman was suspended for one game, a penalty imposed on Friday by the WCHA for kneeing North Dakota’s David Lundbohm on Dec. 7.
Doman, who received a two-minute penalty on the play, will be forced to sit out the Badgers’ opening game at the Bank One Badger Hockey Showdown next week in Milwaukee.
The Badgers are scheduled to play Brown on Dec. 27.
Doman kneed Lundbohm at mid-ice, and the North Dakota forward suffered a bruised thigh.
North Dakota coach Dean Blais questioned that the call was only a minor penalty.
“That one should have been a major penalty by Doman,” Blais said after the game. “He kneed David Lundbohm and the referee saw it, and it should have been a major.”
The NCAA ice hockey rulebook contains language to help referees determine whether a kneeing penalty should be called as a minor or a major.
It reads: “A minor penalty should be assessed in most situations. When the knee is used in a flagrant or violent manner, a major penalty should be assessed. Whenever injury results from fouling an opponent with a knee, a disqualification penalty must be assessed.”
Lundbohm got treatment on the bench for his injury, and he left the ice to go to the locker room after the penalty call was made.
Doman has three goals and five assists in 16 games for the Badgers.
