EDMONTON — Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid feels his three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks winger Conor Garland was a “little bit harsh” but is taking ownership for his role in the wrongdoing.
“Obviously, there’s lots of holding and holding down — he holds my head down for a little bit — but I can’t have that reaction,” McDavid said. “I know that. Everyone knows that. Not the reaction that I’m proud of or that anyone wants to see out of me, and I understand that.”
McDavid was speaking to the media Wednesday for the first time since he struck Garland in the head in the dying seconds of Saturday’s 3-2 loss in Vancouver. His cross-check came after roughly 15 seconds of being entangled with Garland, the latter stages of which saw McDavid pinned to the ice and then held.
McDavid said he didn’t notice that there was no delayed penalty signal from referees Wes McCauley and Chris Lee on Garland before he cross-checked him.
“Maybe the whole thing is avoided with a blow of the whistle or something like that,” McDavid said.
During his 10-minute scrum, McDavid either empathized with the referees’ jobs or said he respected them on five occasions. Though he feels Garland should have been penalized before his outburst, he had no interest in criticizing McCauley or Lee.
Instead, McDavid took issue with the standard of officiating in the sport.
“I think everybody as players across the league, not just me, not just guys in this room, just want to see the game called (so that) a penalty in the first (period) is a penalty in the third. A penalty in October is a penalty in April,” he said. “Guys just want that standard, want that consistency, I would say. I would say that’s a big part of it is just the consistency, which is tough to ask for. It goes from game to game (and) ref to ref.
“As I said, the refs have a hard job. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the refs and the work that they do. It’s a thankless job. It really is. But just call the game.”
The three-game ban was the second suspension of McDavid’s career. He was given a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on New York Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy in February 2019.
The cross-check on Garland came after he wasn’t penalized for a hit on Minnesota Wild winger Marcus Johansson late in the second period of a 5-3 win in Minnesota last Wednesday. McDavid appeared to move his arm ever so slightly as he skated by Johansson and connected with his head. Johansson left the game has hasn’t played since.
“It’s tough to skate with your arms tucked in,” McDavid said. “I’m not trying to get him at all. That’s extremely unfortunate. I feel awful about that. The league alluded to history in the suspension. I’m not sure I have a history of being a dirty player.
“Obviously, I’m not trying to hurt guys. Every game I go out there, I’m thinking, ‘How am I going to score? How am I going to make plays? How am I going to help the team win?’ It’s not, ‘Who am I going to elbow next?’ That’s not who I am. I don’t think anyone here thinks that. It’s an unfortunate week.”
McDavid is eligible to return to the Oilers lineup on Monday when the Seattle Kraken visit Edmonton.
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(Photo: Derek Cain / Getty Images)
