On Monday it was announced that Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid had earned a three-game suspension for checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland in the head during his tilt Saturday night.
Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers also received three games. for a cross check to the head of Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard.
Reception of McDavid’s suspension among fans and around the league has certainly been mixed: the Oilers and McDavid himself. They made their feelings known about it – and the discourse on protecting the league’s stars came to a head.
“Maybe all this can be avoided with a blow of the whistle.”
Connor McDavid comments on the NHL’s three-game suspension to check on Conor Garland. pic.twitter.com/esEqZ5EtfO
-TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 22, 2025
Many echoed the sentiment that, despite Garland committing some frustrating uncalled penalties on the play, McDavid simply cannot cross-check an opponent’s head, even in retaliation as the league’s best player. .
While that may be true, another league superstar with extensive experience receiving similar abuse had some thoughts about the league’s lack of protection for its stars.
Pittsburgh Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby, also a victim of non-callups over the years as the face of the league, sympathized with McDavid’s case.
“Sometimes your emotions take over” Crosby told Josh Yohe of The Athletic. “It’s a physical sport. The one time you see that, you probably don’t see the nine hits that Connor took. Those are the ones that never stand out. When you retaliate, you get the highlight.”
Crosby expanded on the fact that emotion can get the best of, well, even the best players sometimes.
“Whether it’s him or anyone else, it’s an emotional game,” Crosby said. “That’s going to happen sometimes. “If there were calmer or colder circumstances, I probably wouldn’t have done that.”