Why has this story persisted for as long as is has? The Toronto Maple Leafs and the media surrounding them have absolutely freaked out over Morgan Rielly’s suspension for really no apparent reason other than it happened to a Leafs player.
This really shouldn’t even be a story.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and their practical fan media (aka: nearly all Canadian media sources) have really gone crazy over Morgan Rielly’s 5-game suspension as Gary Bettman today upheld the ruling against the Maple Leafs defender. And, if you couldn’t tell, I think this is such a silly story.
Now, I don’t want to come off as if I’m just completely against the Canadian NHL media (which I most certainly am) or that I dislike the Maple Leafs (because that’s true too), but this story is a classic example of how the Candian NHL media just gets into an utter frenzy when something bad happens to a Maple Leafs player.
If you haven’t seen the incident involving Rielly, it essentially boils down to Senators forward Ridly Greig being an utter doofus and Rielly taking exception to it. Around ten days ago now, the Senators and the Maple Leafs battled a hard-fought 5-3 game that saw the Ottawa Senators be on the winning side.
The incident comes when the Maple Leafs, who were pushing for a tying goal in the dying embers of the 3rd period as they were down 4-3, allowed Ridly Greig to get in behind their defense and have a breakaway against and empty net. Obviously, Greig scored and the Senators won 5-3…but the issue is not with the goal, but rather HOW Greig scored.
Instead of just pushing the puck along into an empty net, Greig decided to be an idiot and take a slap shot in close to really drive home the Senators 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs. But who was the last Leafs defender to get beaten out of the Senators zone? Oh, that just happened to be Morgan Rielly.
So, after Greig scored and was skating up ice to celebrate with his teammates, Rielly decided violence was the answer that day and crossed checked the life out of Greig’s face and followed up with a punch to the back of the head. Penalties, game misconduscts, and a brawl ensued, but it really didn’t matter as there was only a handful of seconds left and the game was clearly out of reach.
But this is where the Canadian NHL media and the Maple Leafs freaked out.
After the game, the NHL called Morgan Rielly in for an in-person hearing and suspended him for the next 5 games in the Leafs season, which was a pretty harsh penalty given the fact that Rielly had no prior suspension history up to that point. And this point has been made for the last TWO WEEKS (or just about) by the Maple Leafs and their unofficial fan media in the form of the Canadian press ENDLESSLY.
Every other article or video you see related to the NHL has been talking about this suspension over the last few days! ALL OF THEM!
It’s so nausating that such a minor incident in the NHL season has to be taken to the EXTREME by the Canadian media just because it involved a Maple Leafs player, and it’s made even worse when you see the play completey justified the suspension.
Did Ridly Greig deserve to get jumped for mocking the Maple Leafs after that goal? Well, by NHL standards, yes. Yes he did!
But did Morgan Rielly equally deserve to get suspended for not only cross checking and attacking a player after the play was over, but also impacting (even if accidental) his opponents head? YES!
I’m sorry, but why does it really matter if the suspension is 3 games vs 5 games as the Canadian media and Maple Leafs are debating endlessly?
There’s not really that much of an on-ice difference in losing Rielly for two extra games for the Maple Leafs. Their playoff spot is growing closer to being clinched, they’re currently 9 points back of the Atlantic Division title with less than 30 games to go, and they have a solid enough defensive core to make up for Rielly’s absence for two additional games beyond what the Leafs are arguing for.
Is losing Rielly tough? Yes. But Rielly DID bring this suspension and attention upon himself with the late hit, and a harsher penalty is the price you can pay if you’re unlucky. And Rielly was unlucky to get hit with a 5-game suspension…but not unlucky to be suspended in the first place as many Canadian media talking heads are making it seem with their takes.
But that’s enough about the Maple Leafs and the Canadian media as those two entities are really enough to make your head hurt.
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