New Jersey Devils
Devils Paul Cotter Faces Possible Suspension; Islanders ‘Pissed Off’
The New York Islanders expressed their anger as the result of a hit by New Jersey Devils Paul Cotter, who faces suspension for the collision.
New Jersey Devils forward Paul Cotter will have a hearing on Monday with the NHL Department of Player Safety following an illegal check on New York Islanders defenseman, Adam Pelech.
READ MORE: Devils Can’t Ignite Offense; Get Shutout in Loss to Islanders
Cotter caught Pelech with a check to the head in the second period on Sunday amid a 1-0 loss to the Islanders at home. The check left Pelech bloodied, and he left the game furiously barking at the Devils forward.
Pelech did not return to the game after the collision.
Paul Cotter was given a match penalty for this hit on Adam Pelech
Pelech got up and was FURIOUS at Cotter 😳 pic.twitter.com/OESobMUf28
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 13, 2025
Following the 1-0 loss, Islanders head coach Patrick Roy explained to Islanders media via Andrew Gross, “that’s the kind of hit we don’t like to see.”
Captain Anders Lee said the Islanders were definitely “pissed off.”
Paul Cotter has played in all but one game this season with the Devils, scoring 16 goals and 22 points. However, Cotter was acquired by general manager Tom Fitzgerald to be a physical presence. Cotter leads the Devils by nearly double in hits, registering 243 so far this season.
The Devils’ next leading hitter is Brenden Dillon (186).
Cotter is on record explaining he, “doesn’t think it’s hard to finish a check.”
He explained back in December how he uses his body to separate bodies from pucks, and tries to do so in a calculated manner.
“I think at any time, you just finish a hit, no matter what,” Cotter explained to New Jersey Hockey Now. “So normally, with doing that, I think that the mindful thing while you’re doing that is trying to have stick on the puck. Most of the time, you see a guy, obviously you’re you’re flying in, it’s going to hit, but sometimes maybe not having the biggest hit, but just separating him stick on puck that creates the puck to spur everywhere, and chaos forms, normally how it goes. It tends to happen. So, you don’t [always] get the big hit. But sometimes, just trying to read the difference between when to do that, when not to do that is probably the mindful thing.”
This is a first-time offense for Cotter with the NHL Department of Player Safety.
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