Suspension Upheld

The Toronto Maple Leafs made their way down to the NHL offices where they were meeting with Gary Bettman today in the hopes of reducing the suspension handed to Morgan Rielly for his crosscheck to Ridly Greig's head. Frankly, had Kevin James been with them to argue for Rielly's suspension to be shortened, I wouldn't have been surprised. I do struggle with the idea that Rielly feels that he should get a shorter term for taking a deliberate shot at a guy's head, but it came down to what Gary Bettman would decide based on evidence and testimony provided by Rielly and the team of suits with him.

At the end of the meeting, Gary Bettman did the right thing in upholding the original five-game suspension, and Morgan Rielly will sit for one more game after failing to sway Bettman's feelings on the matter. According to reports, the NHLPA argued that Rielly's intent was to make contact with Greig's body, not his head, and that Rielly's clean record should result in the shortening of the suspension. Like I argued twelve days ago, Bettman felt that "Rielly had sufficient time to engage Greig differently, noting that he could have sent a message "with a push or a shove or even by dropping his gloves to fight."

"Had he done so, there likely would have been no need for supplemental discipline," Bettman added. Score a point for Bettman.

I found it strange that Bettman said much of the testimony offered by Rielly, General Manager Brad Treliving and President Brendan Shanahan revolved around Greig's slapshot, concluding that any discussion about the slapshot was "utterly irrelevant." For a group of people trying to convince the Commissioner that Rielly needed less time off, talking about the meaningless empty-net goal like Greig had committed some sort of crime makes no sense.

The crux of the decision to uphold the suspension came down to one simple fact: that kind of violence will not be tolerated by the NHL.

"Mr. Rielly's actions were not taken in self-defence. They were not accidental and they were not reflexive. They were not simply careless or merely reckless," Bettman wrote in his decision. "With plenty of time to think about what he was going to do next, Mr. Rielly approached Mr. Greig from the side, then used his stick as a weapon to deliver the kind of blow to the head that the league has repeatedly made clear will not be tolerated."

The cautionary lesson was delivered when Bettman wrote, "Mr. Rielly's suspension almost certainly would have been considerably longer if he did not have a clean record or if there had been an injury," noting that the Department of Player Safety recognized Rielly's lack of causing trouble as a reason for not assessing a longer suspension in the first place.

With this appeal now dead, the standard of five games for any act similar to Rielly's can be applied going forward. As I wrote one week ago, it's now up to the NHL to enforce the five-game suspension for any further shenanigans like we saw between Rielly and Greig. Any deviation from this will further erode any faith in the Department of Player Safety, and I fully expect that standard to remain in place for the playoffs. Clear headshots need to end.

For once, I applaud Gary Bettman's efforts. Don't expect it to last.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!