door, preventing any arrest. Bruins management finally persuaded the officers to leave with a promise that the NHL would handle the issue. Richard was never arrested for the incident. He was instead sent to the hospital by team doctors after complaining of headaches and stomach pains. The Laycoe incident was Richard's second altercation with an official that season, after having slapped a linesman in the face in Toronto the previous December, for which he was fined $250. Upon hearing the referee's report, league president Clarence Campbell ordered all parties to appear at a March 16 hearing at his office in Montreal. Hearing The game's on-ice officials, Richard, Laycoe, Montreal assistant general manager Ken Reardon, Boston general manager Lynn Patrick, Montreal coach Dick Irvin, and NHL referee-in-chief Carl Voss attended the March 16 hearing. In his defence, Richard contended that he was dazed and thought Thompson was one of Boston's players. He did not deny punching or attacking Laycoe. After the hearing, Campbell issued a 1200-word statement to the press: …I have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the attack on Laycoe was not only deliberate but persisted in the face of all authority and that the referee acted with proper judgment in awarding a match penalty. I am also satisfied that Richard did not strike linesman Thompson as a result of a mistake or accident as suggested … Assistance can also be obtained from an incident that occurred less than three months ago in which the pattern of conduct of Richard was almost identical, including his constant resort to the recovery of his stick to pursue his opponent, as well as flouting the authority of and striking officials. On the previous occasion he was fortunate that teammates and officials were more effective in preventing him from doing injury to anyone and the penalty was more lenient in consequence. At the time he was warned there must be no further incident … The time for probation or leniency is past. Whether this type of conduct is the product of temperamental instability or willful defiance of the authority in the games does not matter. It is a type of conduct which cannot be tolerated by any player—star or otherwise. Richard will be suspended from all games both league and playoff for the balance of the current season. The suspension—the longest that Campbell ever issued during his thirty-one-year tenure as league