NEW YORK – Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman has been fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment), the National Hockey League announced today.
NHL Rule 64 is designed to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties. Fines are assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale outlined below:
| Citation # | Player Fine(s) | * Head Coach Fine(s) |
| 1 | Warning | N/A |
| 2 | $2,000 | N/A |
| 3 | $3,000 | N/A |
| 4 | $4,000 | N/A |
| 5 | $5,000 | $2,000 |
| 6 | $5,000 | $3,000 |
| 7 | $5,000 | $4,000 |
| 8 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
* For head coaches, each FINE issued to a player on his club counts toward his total. Four FINES issued to one player or a club collectively results in the head coach receiving his first fine.
Citations are issued by the National Hockey League Hockey Operations Department, which tracks all games, logs all penalties for diving or embellishment, and flags all plays not called on the ice that in its opinion were deserving of such a penalty. A Citation is issued once Hockey Operations, through its internal deliberations, is convinced that a player warrants sanction.
Friedman was issued a Warning following an incident flagged by NHL Hockey Operations during NHL Game No. 560 vs. Detroit on Dec. 28. His second Citation, which triggered the $2,000 fine, was issued for an incident at 10:22 of the third period during NHL Game No. 1221 vs. Philadelphia on April 2. Flyers forward Travis Konecny received a minor penalty for slashing on the play.
The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
