Kevin Bieksa Shares His Bold Take Publicly On Connor McDavid's Controversial Cross-Check
Kevin Bieksa was the latest media personality to join in on the Connor McDavid saga following his vicious cross-check, and he had quite the bold take to share.
The vicious fight between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers last Saturday has resulted in severe controversy for Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Canucks defenseman, Tyler Myers.
Headshots, which should never be accepted in any sport, have been observed in this case, perhaps leading to more questions than answers as the hockey world awaits further news on the outcome.
Both McDavid and Myers chose to use their sticks as swords instead of tools for the sport and started hitting their opponents' heads and faces.
Strong opinions were voiced when the famous former Canadian NHL player and Sportsnet analyst, Kevin Bieksa, commented on what happened.
Kevin Bieksa blames too much policing over fighting for these incidents
Bieksa knows that based on the way the officials police the game nowadays, things like this can easily happen.
"If there's ever an argument to keep fighting in the NHL this is why," said Bieksa over the weekend. "The personnel on the ice for Edmonton is the six best offensive guys... Vancouver has a little bit [of a] gritter lineup so no one's gonna fight. You don't want McDavid fighting, you don't want Draisaitl so something's gonna give. When it gets down to this something is gonna give and because there's no fighting... this is what you're gonna get. You're gonna get a cross-check to the face, you're gonna get stick work."
He was particularly negative about how Myers used crosschecking as a tactic and stated that any limitation in fighting in hockey always leads to this type of activity.
"Bouchard you don't want him to fight, Myers knows that," said Bieksa. "So instead of Myers just dropping the gloves and having a fight where they probably just wrestle each other to the ice and nobody gets hurt, it's a vicious cross-check to the face."
In his words, the followers of the game should be warned about policies not to tighten the fight ban, as it can lead to more of this type of aggression.
"So just keep that in the back of your mind when you're thinking 'Let's get fighting out of the NHL' well no fighting, more cross-checks to the face in my opinion."
- Kevin Bieksa
- Kevin Bieksa
Yet Bieksa could not be more precise in saying that neither Myers nor McDavid's actions could be morally justified.
Both of them, to put it delicately, are in a position where it is amply warranted to subject them to more severe actions, which is what the league needs to start doing in a more balanced manner.
"They're both the same bad cross-check to the head," said Bieksa of the blows from both Myers and McDavid. "They're both suspensions I don't know how you argue those."
Fans will await word as to what type of supplemental punishment these to players will receive.
TRENDING NOW
