Two New York Islanders Ice Girls were hoping to penalize members of the New York Rangers for slashing, spitting and verbal abuse during television timeouts in the first period of Tuesday's game at Nassau Coliseum.
The NHL says it has reviewed the incident and, as far as the league is concerned, the case is closed.
"We were made aware of the situation right after the game in question," NHL executive vice president Colin Campbell told TSN. "We investigated it, talked with the officials and both teams and we determined there were no grounds to pursue it any further. It's a closed matter as far as we are concerned. We don't have to respond to what's in today's newspapers because we've already responded to it."
A report in New York newspaper Newsday reveals that the girls were cleaning loose ice in the blue-painted goaltender's crease when Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist refused to move and used his stick to hit the squeegee used to push the snow during the first TV timeout, knocking the butt end into her stomach.
"The tip of my squeegee kind of hit the tip of his stick," Kelli Higgins told Newsday. "I don't know if he thought I did that on purpose or whatever, but he took a big windup and slashed the squeegee pretty good. It startled me a little bit. It didn't feel great, but I wouldn't say I was injured or in a ton of pain. I was shocked."
During the second TV timeout, Higgins alternated jobs with another Ice Girl, Chanel Benson, who claimed she was spit on as she was leaving the ice.
"All of a sudden, my back got wet," Benson told Newsday. "I believe one of the Rangers players who was sitting along the wall spit on my back. It had to be on purpose because I wasn't directly in front of anyone to spit and not realize I was there."
During a third TV timeout, both referees and one linesman made Lundqvist move to allow Higgins to shovel the snow out. Higgins said both Lundqvist and Rangers forward Sean Avery were using curse words "that had to do with us going around with the squeegee."
Lundqvist told reporters on Wednesday before learning of the allegations that he prefers to remain in the crease to maintain concentration during breaks.
