NHL suspends Flames goalie 5 games

updated 2:08 p.m. ET April 24, 2007

NEW YORK - The NHL came down hard Sunday on Calgary, suspending goalie Jamie McLennan for five games and fining coach Jim Playfair $25,000 and the team $100,000 for actions late in Game 5 of the Flames’ first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

McLennan was given a match penalty for slashing Detroit’s Johan Franzen in the midsection at 17:01 of the third period, one of four penalties the Flames were assessed for aggressive and illegal use of the stick (slashing or cross-checking) in the closing minutes of the Red Wings’ 5-1 victory.

“In our pre-playoff conference calls with the coaches and general managers of the respective organizations, we addressed a number of topics and one of them was actions late in the game when the score was out of hand,” NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell said. “The coach and the organization must be held accountable for the players’ actions.”

McLennan’s suspension was to begin with Game 6 Sunday night in Calgary. Detroit led the series 3-2.

Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek said Flames captain Jarome Iginla for the was partly to blame for Calgary’s chippy play.

Iginla took hooking and cross-checking minors in the final minute.

“Even their captain, he should be in charge and he was one of the guys who probably embarrassed himself because too many penalties for no reason,” Hasek said before Game 6. “I think it was embarrassing.

“If I watched the game on TV, I would be very disappointed as a fan.”

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Iginla was unavailable to immediately respond to Hasek’s comments because he had left the Pengrowth Saddledome following the Flames’ pre-game skate.

Calgary called-up goalie Brent Krahn from Omaha of the AHL to backup Miikka Kiprusoff.

Mayfair inserted McLennan late into Saturday’s game to conserve Kiprusoff for Game 6, but McLennan lasted only 18 seconds.

Hasek and Iginla have history between them. Hasek has felt Iginla deliberately interfered with him in the crease in both the playoffs and the regular season.

Hasek gestured with his stick at Iginla behind the net in last week’s Game 4, which resulted in a minor penalty to Hasek and Calgary scoring a power-play goal en route to a 3-2 win.

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