P.K. Subban Calls Out NHL Officials Over Their Handling Of the Connor McDavid Situation
The NHL missed a blatant penalty on Connor McDavid that led to his suspension, and now former NHL star P.K. Subban has called them out on it.
All the talk in the NHL over the past few days has revolved around the Connor McDavid suspension situation, with many in Edmonton calling out the league for handing down the three-game suspension to the Oilers captain.
On paper, he absolutely deserved to be suspended for a cross-check, but the actions of Conor Garland that forced McDavid's hand are going largely unnoticed, except by P.K. Subban, who called it out on social media.
"How the [explicit] does Connor McDavid get suspended for three games?" Subban said. "Like, what the hell was the ref looking at? Like, am I the only person that saw this? Edmonton's down by a goal, pushing to tie it up. Connor McDavid is on the prowl. He's on the attack right now. Everybody is watching him, watching him on the middle of the ice, get pinned down by Connor Garland, let back up, pulled back down. It went on for at least 15 seconds, folks and the ref put his whistle away. What the [explicit] is he watching? Like, what's up with his eyes? This guy needs to start eating carrots or something, contacts, something because he ain't seeing what I'm seeing and what everybody else is seeing."
Much like McDavid's star teammate Leon Draisaitl, Subban isn't a fan of suspending one of the league's top players either, and while actions need to have consequences, it's clear that many want the superstars of the NHL to be officiated differently.
"With 20 seconds left, you got to give Connor McDavid, or any other player in his position, the opportunity to play between the whistles. That's what people pay to see. They didn't pay to watch him get pinned down for 15 seconds and end the end of the game and left and that way, and then get suspended, because he's a human being and he's got emotions, and he reacts to it. We can't afford that. We need our best players on the ice. I am paying to watch Conor McDavid. I get paid to watch these games. I don't want to watch unless he's on the ice. I want to watch him. I'm like every other fan."
The play of Conor Garland that led to all of this was disguised well, but the officials simply needed to be better in seeing it, with Subban once again noting how illegal the play that started all of this was.
"You can't pin somebody down," he said. "You can't do that. It's illegal. So why wasn't it called? Why wasn't the whistleblowing?"
At the end of the day, McDavid can't expect to escape punishment after a cross-check to the face, but he can't be expected to not react either, and like Subban says, if the league calls this properly, than McDavid wouldn't have to react the way that he did.
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