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Coyotes’ Bissonnette receives 10-game suspension

paulbizgetty

As anticipated, the NHL handed Phoenix Coyotes tough guy Paul Bissonnette a 10-game suspension for leaving the bench (Rule 70.10) in the first period of Sunday’s wild preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings.

Bissonnette, 28, was incited to fight after seeing teammate Rostislav Klesla injured by a Jordan Nolan hit.

Coyotes fans will surely be upset that “BizNasty” received a suspension while Nolan, 24, went unpunished. It’s not necessarily a fair discussion because Bissonnette’s suspension is an automatic, protocol-mandated one while the Nolan check on Klesla amounts to a judgment call.

That probably won’t stop Phoenix fans from getting angry, though.

This suspension costs Bissonnette $37,820.51 and keeps him from regular season action until an Oct. 24 game against (wait for it) the Kings in Los Angeles.

About the only bits of good news for the enforcer is that he’s at least under contract with the Coyotes in 2013-14 ($737,500) and can participate in the Coyotes’ remaining exhbition games, according to AZ Central’s Sarah McLellan.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins