Player Safety comes down on Neal Pionk for hip check on Jesper Boqvist.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has come down on Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk.

The Jets faced off against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers on Saturday night and it would be during that game's third period that Pionk would draw the ire of the disciplinary arm of the league.

Pionk is famous for delivering hip checks as opposing players cross the blue line and enter the Jets zone but he may have gone a little low on Saturday night when he attempted to deliver his patented hip check to Panthers' forward Jesper Boqvist. The hip check appears to catch Boqvist closer to the knee than the hip, and it left the Panthers forward in some pain on the ice.

Here is a look at a few different angles of the hit:

The league made it very clear in its ruling that it felt Pionk had simply gone too low on Boqvist, issuing him a fine in the maximum allowable amount of $5,000 under the "clipping" rule. Although the hip check did look spectacular, it does seem like the league made the right call here with the contact coming in a little low.

You certainly could argue however that Boqvist materially changed his position when he tried to avoid the contract from Pionk, attempting to quickly cut sideways to avoid the incoming Jets defenseman, but the league felt that a fine was warranted regardless.

While $5,000 isn't the biggest deal when it comes to a player on an NHL salary, the danger now for Pionk is that he will be considered a repeat offender should he draw the ire of NHL Player Safety again within the next 18 months. Repeat offenders are subject to harsher discipline from the league, so Pionk will have to be careful about going too low on any future hip checks... at least for a while.