Rick Tocchet, the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, didn't hold back when he took a swipe at the NHL in a recent press conference.
The drama kicked off during Sunday night's game when Connor McDavid, the Oilers' captain, took not one, but two cross checks. Nikita Zadorov delivered one from behind, while Soucy delivered a whack right to McDavid's face. Soucy ended up with a one-game suspension, and Zadorov got slapped with a $5,000 fine.
Tocchet pointed out that dishing out punishment to Soucy and Zadorov while letting Hyman off the hook didn't make sense. According to Tocchet, both hits were the same, so why the double standard? It left him questioning whether the NHL favors its star players over the rest. Regardless, the Canucks lead the series 2-1 and will seek to push Edmonton to the brink with a win in Game 4 on Tuesday.
As for the controversy, it's not going away anytime soon, but the hope is the NHL can step up and make fair calls for the remainder of the playoffs.
