Finnish politician wants jail time for Danish international after violent hockey tackle

[p]The Danish international tackled [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/riihinen-petteri/juTIKy7a/"]Riihinen[/a] in the head on Saturday afternoon, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tps-turku/Wd5rVrgM/"]TPS Turku[/a] faced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/assat-pori/I9wm5xTA/"]Ässät[/a] in the top Finnish league. Riihinen was knocked out, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lauridsen-oliver/GE4EmDaf/"]Lauridsen[/a] received a match penalty, equivalent to a red card.[/p][p]The Disciplinary Committee of the Finnish ice hockey league has now looked into the matter, and Oliver Lauridsen has been given an eight-match suspension.[/p][p]The Disciplinary Committee concluded in its decision that Riihinen should be considered a player with the puck at the time of the tackle, who may legally be tackled. However, the Committee also considered that the direction of the tackle towards the opponent's head could have been avoided.[/p][embed guid="296d9964-e975-4a37-9d8b-5b4bef8ef5c7" url="https://x.com/smliiga/status/2032894358182121808" social-type="twitter" /][p]The decision also states that the Disciplinary Committee assesses that Lauridsen endangered the opponent in connection with the tackle, and by entering the situation as the third player, he showed a lack of respect.[/p][p][b]According to Finnish paper Ilta-Sanomat, Ässät director Sami Hautamäki says that the Ässät player is doing well, considering the circumstances[/b], but that he has nothing else to add.[/p][p]The tackle has been heavily debated in Finnish media, prompting Otto Meri, a lawyer and member of "Samlingspartiet" ("The Coalition Party"), to comment on the tackle on social media.[/p][p][b]"In criminal law, this would probably be classified as aggravated assault. The minimum sentence for that is one year in prison,"[/b] Meri writes.[/p][p]The suspension means that Lauridsen is unlikely to be called into action again this season, as TPS is two points from a playoff spot with one round remaining in the regular season. Lauridsen's suspension will then carry over into the start of next season.[/p][p]Ässät won the match 5-2 and have qualified for the playoffs.[/p]