Connor McDavid says he’s got a lot of respect for the National Hockey League’s referees, something he said more than once to media on Wednesday.
And the Edmonton Oilers superstar says he agrees with the NHL’s decision to suspend him for cross-checking the Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland in the head near the end of their game Saturday.
“I can’t have that reaction,” McDavid said.
But he also said he thinks officials should be more consistent in calling penalties – something several observers have said may have pre-empted the cross-check, and subsequent match penalty and suspension, in the first place – and that his three-game banishment “might be a little bit harsh.”
“The league made their decision. I don’t necessarily agree with it,” McDavid said. “I’m not saying there shouldn’t have been any penalty or any suspension or anything like that.”
The NHL suspended McDavid three games after a hearing on Monday with the league’s Department of Player Safety. The second suspension of his career – the star was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head in 2019 – will cost him $195,312 in salary.
With less than a minute left in the Saturday night game between the Pacific Division rivals and the Canucks leading by a goal, McDavid and Garland got tangled up for several seconds. McDavid, after getting to his feet, hit Garland in the side of the head with his stick and was thrown out with a match penalty for intent to injure.
McDavid said he wasn’t “looking to engage” with the Canucks in the dying seconds of the game – “I’m just trying to tie the game,” he said – but at one point in his skirmish with Garland, he did expect to hear a referee’s whistle. It didn’t come.
“I know where we are in the time of the game and what we’re trying to do,” McDavid said. “The longer it goes, the more you’re thinking, ‘There’s going to be something,’ but I understand that the refs have a hard job.
“With that being said, my job’s hard, too. Everyone’s got a hard job.”
He said he believes players across the league want to see “consensus consistency,” that “a penalty in the first is a penalty in the third, (and) a penalty in October is a penalty in April.”
“The rule books are in place for a reason,” McDavid said. “Just because maybe one guy draws more (penalties) than another guy, or one team draws more than the other team, then that’s the way it is.”
Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers was also suspended three games for cross-checking Oilers counterpart Evan Bouchard in the face during the post-whistle melee soon after McDavid’s interaction with Garland.
McDavid missed Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals, and will sit out Thursday’s rematch with the Canucks and Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.
He’s been on the ice practising regardless of sitting out a week of game action.
“I’d rather be on the ice than sitting at home resting,” McDavid said. “It’s not like you can get a week away in Cabo (in Mexico), so I’m here. I want to support the team ...
“I Want to be here to get myself ready to roll when it is time.”
The three-time NHL most-valuable player can return to action Monday at Edmonton’s Rogers Place against the Seattle Kraken.
