Edmonton Oilers forward fined thousands for elbowing

The incident occurred in the third period when Erne attempted to deliver a hit on Bellemare but his elbow connected directly with his head. Erne was assessed a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head.

Erne has suited up for seven games this season with the Oilers after signing a one-year, $775,000 contract last month. He was recently recalled from the Oilers’ AHL farm team the Bakersfield Condors where he has tallied one goal in four games.

Erne spent the last four seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, recording 27 goals and 35 assists for 62 points in 241 games. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Erne played 114 games for the Lightning over three seasons, scoring 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Erne grew up in North Brantford before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 13 to play for a California-based select hockey team. He was offered a scholarship to play NCAA hockey at Boston University but decided to opt for major junior and play for Quebec Remparts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

In his final season with the Remparts in 2014-15, he was awarded the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the QMJHL’s most valuable player in the playoffs. He led his team to the President’s Cup Championship final, which they lost to the Rimouski Oceanic in seven games. In 22 playoff games, Erne had 21 goals and nine assists for 30 points.