NEW YORK – Nashville Predators forward James Neal has been fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment), the National Hockey League announced today.

Revised for the 2014-15 season following offseason approval by the League's Board of Governors and the National Hockey League Players' Association, NHL Rule 64 is designed to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties. Fines are assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale outlined below:

Citation # Player Fine(s) * Head Coach Fine(s) 1 Warning N/A 2 $2,000 N/A 3 $3,000 N/A 4 $4,000 N/A 5 $5,000 $2,000 6 $5,000 $3,000 7 $5,000 $4,000 8 $5,000 $5,000























* For Head Coach, each FINE issued to a player on his Club counts toward total.

Citations are issued by the National Hockey League Hockey Operations Department, which tracks all games, logs all penalties for diving or embellishment and flags all plays not called on the ice that in its opinion were deserving of such a penalty. A Citation is issued once Hockey Operations, through its internal deliberations, is convinced that a player warrants sanction.

Neal was issued a Warning following an incident flagged by NHL Hockey Operations at 3:59 of the first period during NHL Game No. 237 at St. Louis on Nov. 13. No on-ice penalty was assessed on that play. His second Citation, which triggered the $2,000 fine, was issued following NHL Game No. 447 at San Jose on Dec. 13. In that game, Neal received a minor penalty for embellishment at 19:39 of the third period.