Burrows won’t appeal 10-game suspension

Alex Burrows did the crime and he’ll do the time.

The Ottawa Senators forward released a statement through the NHL Players’ Association on Thursday evening, saying he wouldn’t appeal the 10-game suspension he received from the National Hockey League’s Player Safety Department for using his knee to deliver blows to the head of the New Jersey Devils’ Taylor Hall during a game at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday night.

“The situation was one in which I realize I let my emotions get the better of me and it was a relief to see Taylor Hall wasn’t injured,” Burrows said in his statement. “I have decided to accept the NHL’s decision and will not be appealing it.

“I have no further comment regarding this matter.”

Burrows simply lost control when he went after Hall after taking a clean hit from the Devils winger in the second period, but the 10 games and $134,000 in salary donated to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund had Burrows thinking about an appeal.

He had 48 hours to make his decision, but only took roughly half that time to opt not to appeal. He wasn’t in the lineup for Thursday night’s contest against the Nashville Predators and won’t be eligible to return until a March 2 road game against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Head coach Guy Boucher said earlier in the day that the Senators felt the 10-game suspension was too harsh.

“We disagree, but we respect the league’s process and decision,” Boucher said. “We’ll have to go from there.”

Senators teammate Mark Stone said he was surprised at the length of the penalty.

“When you meet the player that’s not the type of guy that he is,” Stone said. “He made a mistake, but I think it was a little bit harsh for him. It’s a play (where a suspension is deserved), but 10 games seems a bit harsh considering he doesn’t have as much of a history as people may think.”

Hall said Burrows received exactly what he deserved.

“In instances like that, where it’s not really a hockey play, you like to see the league standing up for you there,” Hall told New Jersey reporters. “The reason it’s so high is because they just want to exterminate it. They don’t want to see it again.”