NHL Team Gets Hammered for Media Rule Break

The league is making an example out of somebody here, and that usually means there was a line crossed that nobody in the room could shrug off. When the NHL comes down hard on media violations, it is not because it suddenly discovered manners - it is because the optics, access, and message to the rest of the league all matter. The punishment itself tells you this was not a little paperwork squabble, and the team now has a mess to clean up with everyone watching.