NHL Faces Criticism for Handling of Rielly In-Person Hearing Announcement Against the Leafs

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Graham Montgomery
February 12, 2024 (9:30 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs played their last game of the season against the Senators on Saturday. The game ended as a 5-3 victory for the Senators, but the bigger headline coming from the game was Morgan Rielly's cross check on Ridley Greig. Now the league is facing criticism for how they have handled the situation.

NHL Analyst Questions NHL's Intentions With Rielly In-Person hearing

One media company that is known for covering the Maple Leafs specifically is the Steve Dangle Podcast Network. In their most recent show, the team discussed the play that has gotten so much attention from around the hockey world. Steve Dangle himself noted that the way the league office reacted to it seems a bit overkill, especially given Rielly's history in the league.

A little preview of today's #SDP... Something about Morgan Rielly's in-person meeting with NHL Player Safety stinks, eh? 🤷‍♂️

Notably, Rielly has never been suspended or even fined by the NHL in his 11-year career so far. Granted, the cross check on Greig is certainly deserving of supplementary discipline, but we have arguably seen worse incidents this year that have gotten less punishment than Rielly appears to be in store for. Fans online have even been debating what the proper action from the NHL would be.

Rielly Cross Check Gets Mixed Reaction From Fans

Many Leafs fans have said that the play deserves a suspension, but nothing too serious like six or more games. However, not all fans agree with this sentiment. In fact, some thought the play was good, as it showed that the team will not let their opponents just do whatever they want on the ice.

Yall would've called us soft if we didn't do anything. We lay that little fk out and now we're classless? The slapshot into an empty net isn't classless?? He deserved getting dropped, stfu. Morgan Rielly good stuff good response

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe had fairly similar things to say about the play after the game so this take is perhaps not all that outlandish. However, most fans seem to agree that a simple suspension should be in order here.

Ridly Greig / Morgan Rielly:

Greig scored a legal goal. There is no «code.» The «code» is an excuse and part of hockey's toxic culture. You're defending this as a cheap shot on an empty net? Rather than a cheap shot against a human? Suspend Reilly, move on.

Be sure to stay tuned as the NHL should be announcing the suspension length for Rielly some time tomorrow afternoon.

As seen on Player Safety doing the Leafs dirty with how handled the Rielly in-person hearing announcement