Hockey is very much a contact sport but not every interaction between players counts the same and Edmonton Oilers’ superstar Connor McDavid learned that the hard way after getting suspended three games without pay by the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety.
During the third period of the game against the Vancouver Canucks on January 18, the Oilers’ forward and team captain got into it with Canucks’ winger Conor Garland. McDavid was furious after Garland held him on the ground for more than five seconds.
McDavid got up and hit Garland on the side of his head with the shaft of his stick and was taken out of the game with a match penalty for intent to injure. The dangerous play is called cross-checking and is the action of a player using the shaft of his stick between two hands to forcefully hit an opponent.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, McDavid will forfeit $195,312.51. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
“There’s a rivalry. Connor gets frustrated,” Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “He gets his stick up and he’s frustrated, because we’re down one goal and the best player in the league is getting held for 15 seconds. There’s frustration that that’s allowed to happen, and his stick got up. So that’s what happened.”
Vancouver Canucks defeat the Edmonton Oilers
The Vancouver Canucks held on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 at Rogers Arena on Saturday night, ending the Blue & Orange’s four-game win streak after coming up short in erasing a multi-goal deficit for the third straight game.
The Oilers trailed 3-0 after the first period before forward Leon Draisaitl extended his point streak to six games in the middle frame by scoring twice to reach 33 goals this season, cutting Vancouver’s lead to 3-2 before Edmonton was unable to equalize over the final frame.
Captain Connor McDavid extended his own point streak to four games with an assist. Goaltender Stuart Skinner finished his night with 24 saves in the defeat. The Oilers will host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Rogers Place this Tuesday before facing the Canucks again on Thursday.