Colin Campbell's Nightmare Continues: Ovechkin Ejected for Boarding

This is probably the last thing NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell wanted to see this week. Another hit that's sure to spark controversy and outrage, this time involving one of the league's best players.

Late in the first period of Sunday's Washington vs. Chicago game, Alex Ovechkin and Brian Campbell were involved in a race for a loose puck, and just after Campbell played the puck, Ovechkin gave him a shove from behind, sending him crashing into the boards.

Ovechkin was issued a five-minute major and a game misconduct (his league-leading third of the season) for boarding.

According to NHL rule 42.3, the referee "may assess a major penalty, based on the degree of violence of the impact with the boards, to a player or goalkeeper guilty of boarding an opponent." Once the major penalty is issued and the player on the receiving end of the hit is injured -- as Campbell was -- a game misconduct is automatic (rule 42.5).

This hit comes just a week after Montreal's Maxim Lapierre was suspended four games for boarding San Jose's Scott Nichol on a hit that was, admittedly, much later than Ovechkin's hit on Campbell. There was no penalty called on that play.

It's also just days after the NHL ruled that Matt Cooke would not be suspended for his blindside hit on Marc Savard, that resulted in the Bruins forward suffering a grade 2 concussion that will likely end his season. The decision to not suspended Cooke was greeted with jeers from just about everybody, while Don Cherry ripped the NHL the proverbial "new one" during his Coach's Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada.

Ovechkin has already been suspended once this season, receiving a two-game banishment for a knee-to-knee hit on Carolina's Tim Gleason, and he's all but guaranteed to see another one. This is the second time this season Ovechkin has been issued a game-misconduct for boarding an opponent, and according to rule 42.6: Any player or goalkeeper who incurs a total of two (2) game misconducts under Rule 42 and/or Rule 44, in either Regular season or Play-offs, shall be suspended automatically for the next game of his team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.

UPDATE: Apparently, since it's been more than 41 games since his last game misconduct for boarding, Ovechkin will not be subjected to the automatic one-game suspension. That doesn't mean he still can't be suspended.

UPDATE II: Campbell could be done for the season.