Rome suspended for four games for late hit

BOSTON -- The Vancouver Canucks will be without Aaron Rome for the rest of the Stanley Cup Final.

The defenseman was been suspended for four games for delivering a late hit to Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, the National Hockey League announced Tuesday afternoon.

Rome was assessed a five-minute major penalty for interference and game misconduct at 5:07 of the first period. Horton, who was stretchered off the ice after the hit at the Vancouver blue line, suffered a concussion on the hit. Tuesday morning, the Bruins announced that Horton will miss the remainder of the Stanley Cup Final.

"Two factors were considered in reaching this decision," said NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy. "The hit by Rome was clearly beyond what is acceptable in terms of how late it was delivered after Horton had released the puck and it caused a significant injury."

Murphy delivered the suspension because usual disciplinarian Colin Campbell recused himself from any involvement in this series because his son Gregory is a forward with the Boston Bruins.

Last week, Campbell, senior executive vice president of Hockey Operations, announced his resignation from the role of overseeing discipline, handing the reigns to Brendan Shanahan. That transition of power, however, takes effect after the season.

Rome will miss the remainder of the Stanley Cup Final series. If the Final ends before Game 7, the suspension will carry over to the start of the 2011-12 regular season.

It is just the fourth suspension -- and first multi-game suspension -- in the history of the Stanley Cup Final.

Anaheim's Chris Pronger was the most recent suspension, earning a game for an elbow to the head of Ottawa's Dean McAmmond in the 2007 Final. Calgary's Ville Nieminen was banned for a game in 2004 for a hit from behind on Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier and Detroit's Jiri Fischer earned the first Stanley Cup suspension in 2002, for a cross-check to Carolina's Tommy Westlund.