Sorry Edmonton Oilers fans, but Connor McDavid got the suspension he deserved.
The NHL world has been in a tizzy since tensions flared in a big way at the end of Saturday night’s game between the Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. With the Oilers down 3-2 in the final minute of the game, McDavid and Conor Garland got into a major scrap on the ice, complete with bear hugging, wrestling and shoving. The works, really.
As the final seconds in the game were ticking down, however, McDavid cross-checked Garland in the side of the face, a maneuver that earned the Oilers’ captain a match penalty. And on Monday, the NHL handed McDavid a three-game suspension for the infraction.
Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers also picked up a three-game cross-checking suspension for his part in the scrum after McDavid’s hit.
Connor McDavid has been suspended for three games for cross-checking Conor Garland. pic.twitter.com/eDLhaCouCD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 20, 2025
It’s not often we say this, but the NHL got this one right. McDavid let his emotions get the better of him and cross-checked Garland in the face, a dangerous play the NHL wants out of the league. And since this isn’t McDavid’s first rodeo — he was given a two-game suspension in 2019 for an illegal check to the head — the NHL’s Department of Player Safety issued a fitting three-game suspension.
However, the reaction to McDavid’s suspension from some Oilers fans has been … kind of embarrassing, honestly.
Time for McDavid to stop attending NHL media tours, all-star games and 4 Nations Cup. NHL is an embarrassment… sending the message players can hold other players for 15 to 20 seconds with impunity. Talk about dumbing down the game. I don't pay to watch incompetent officiating
— Shannon Baerwald (@ShannonBaerwald) January 20, 2025
McDavid should boycott the 4 nations
— World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) January 21, 2025
If I am McDavid, I am taking a vacation from promoting the league. No interviews either.
— Oilers John 🇨🇦 ✈️ (@OilersJohn) January 21, 2025
If I were the Edmonton Oilers, I’d make Connor McDavid “unavailable” for any NHL-sanctioned event or avail outside games themselves over the first 3 dates he is allowed back in the lineup.
I’d also ask where exactly my revenue sharing dollars are going.— Kurt Leavins (@KurtLeavins) January 21, 2025
In a way, it’s easy to understand the frustrations Oilers fans feel. McDavid, by nature of being the NHL’s best player, takes more on-ice abuse than his peers because that’s what it takes to stop someone in a class above the rest. If NHL referees called every infraction committed against McDavid, Oilers games would just be a penalty box parade.
If you look closer at the numbers, however, no player has drawn more penalties than McDavid since the 2015-16 season. That’s not to say McDavid is getting special treatment from referees, but he’s not completely unprotected out there on the ice like some Oilers fans believe.
Both very true – will add a third thing which is that nobody has drawn more penalties since 2015-16 than McDavid and his minor penalty differential is 51 better than the 2nd-highest player. https://t.co/CFpMFjZy9J
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) January 21, 2025
Even with the numbers, Oilers fans and McDavid himself probably still feel like it’s not enough. So much so that it seems McDavid is now taking matters of prevention into his own hands, if this un-penalized and un-disciplined elbow to the head of Marcus Johansson not even a week ago is any indication.
Connor McDavid chicken-wings Marcus Johansson pic.twitter.com/TcgvvsqwTj
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) January 16, 2025
Should NHL referees call more penalties to better control these kinds of situations? Yes. Should the NHL’s Department of Player Safety discipline illegal and dirty plays with more consistency? Also yes. But McDavid very clearly made an emotional, irresponsible cross-check and was rightfully punished for it. Them’s the rules the NHL plays by.
