I think this is a horrible decision by the officials in a clearly unfortunate accident with a patently non-violent, compliant and respectful player. The message they are sending is... I can't even phrase their message, really. What would that be?
- We don't care if it was accidental;
- We don't care if an official was at a wrong place at a wrong time (high collision area during change);
- We don't care if there were ANY mitigating circumstances occurring at the game immediately prior to the collision (huge hit on a player);
- We don't care if there was no history of prior carelessness.
- YOU SHALT PAY!
This is hockey! Accidents on ice do happen, unfortunately, you have chosen a profession that is subject to that risk. I have zero excuses for deliberate abuse of officials and would advocate for maximum penalties and fines in those cases. But to punish a player for an unfortunate accident so severely is absurd.