Game Misconduct Has Rychel on Thin Ice

Warren Rychel is walking a thin line--assuming he hasn’t already crossed it.

Tossed out of the Ducks’ game against Ottawa a little more than two minutes after the opening faceoff, Rychel will face a suspension the next time he receives a game misconduct penalty.

The early and unofficial assessment of the tangled text of the NHL rulebook is that Rychel won’t face a suspension for this one because it wasn’t stick-related.

Rychel apparently found referee Paul Stewart’s magic button when he shouted at him after Stewart whistled him for hooking call.

“He got a game misconduct for being a jerk,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “It wasn’t stick-related or aggressor-related.”

Rychel served a one-game suspension Nov. 11 for slashing the Kings’ John Slaney after accumulating two stick-related game misconducts within 41 games. His next stick-related game misconduct will result in a two-game suspension.

Under another rule, any three game misconducts during a season result in a one-game suspension, meaning Rychel is close on two counts.