"Blue Jackets center Michael Peca was suspended indefinitely by the NHL yesterday for committing "physical abuse of officials" in a 5-4 overtime win Friday over the Dallas Stars.

Unless Peca wins his appeal, which will be heard early in New York, the suspension will be for a minimum of 10 games.

Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson did not comment.

At 5:21 of the second period, with the Blue Jackets leading 1-0, Peca was tripped up by Dallas forward Brenden Morrow, who extended his left skate and put his stick under Peca's right leg, thrusting upward and sending Peca sailing.

Seconds later, as Peca was still getting back up on his skates, Morrow redirected a Mike Ribeiro shot to score a power play goal.

Peca immediately skated behind the goal to plead his case with referee Greg Kimmerly, who began skating in the other direction.

"The only contact was me grabbing his arm to slow him down," Peca said, "because he was skating away and I wanted to plead my case. They're claiming I hit (a) linesman with my stick after I hit the glass with it, which is completely false."

Peca acknowledged verbally berating the officials, but that's not part of the NHL's argument.

The NHL said the infraction falls under Rule 41.3, which covers abuse of officials. The rule states: "Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner, in which physical force applied without intent to injure, or who spits on an official, shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games."

The loss of Peca will be significant.

In the short term, the Blue Jackets are down two centers, with Manny Malhotra (lower body injury) out through at least Tuesday's game in San Jose.

Beyond that, Peca is one of the club's most experienced and vocal leaders, not to mention a stabilizing presence on the ice.

Yesterday, after a morning skate in Jobing.com Arena, Peca acknowledged a portion of regret.

"When the guy who commits the foul ends up scoring the goal," Peca said, "you have that much energy and pride invested in that situation, you get a little heated.

"For me, I'm pretty mild mannered. For me to get that upset it takes a lot to get me that upset. I don't like to think that I talk to officials like that. I regret some of the things I said. But I can't regret anything to do with abuse of an official, because I didn't abuse an official.""