McDavid should have received a suspension for his elbow

By: Rachael Bishop

The official poll question for Wednesday on the RP Show was should Connor McDavid have gotten suspended for his elbow to the chin of Montréal Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi?

As of press time, 35 per cent of viewers on rodpedersen.com, and 41 per cent of fans on twitter believe that McDavid should have faced a suspension, rather than the $5000 fine he received. Even though that is the maximum amount allowed under the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement for a player who makes 14 million (USD) a season, $5000 is effectively a slap on the wrist.

On the show on Tuesday, Rod Pedersen himself said that the most punishment McDavid should have received was a two-minute minor penalty, due to the fact that Kotkaniemi did not appear to suffer an injury on the play, while co-host Darren Dupont agreed that the NHL got it right with the $5000 fine. The fact of the matter is that McDavid drove his elbow straight into the jaw of Kotkaniemi, who was an unsuspecting player in a vulnerable position, unable to defend himself. It was intentional, it was it was reckless, and it was dirty. Nothing about it was a “hockey play”. Whether Kotkaniemi was injured is meaningless, it was the act itself that should be punished, and McDavid should have to sit out a few games as a result.

And while it is true that due to his superstar status, McDavid suffers more physical abuse at the hands of opponents than almost anyone in the league, (abuse that often goes uncalled); that does not absolve him of any blame when he does the same thing to other players. 

The fact that McDavid felt he could elbow Kotkaniemi and likely not face a suspension is really the bigger problem at hand. 

The NHL can never seem to get supplemental discipline right, and that is why repeat offenders such as Matt Cooke and Raffi Torres were able to last in the league for decades despite committing egregious and unnecessary hits on opposing players time and time again. It is why current day ‘rats’ and dirty players such Tom Wilson, Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk have not changed their playing style, despite numerous suspensions. 

Because the league has failed to adequately protect its players (one only has to look at the lawsuit against the NHL for further evidence), players feel as though they have to take matters “into their hands” and commit dirty plays themselves. Had the NHL dealt had stricter penalties for hits to head, elbows and other illegal infractions involving the brain, then players such as McDavid would not have a reason to retaliate. 

The NHL needs to take a page from the IIHF’ s book which reads: “Any hit to the head is an automatic five- minute major, game misconduct and one game suspension.” This is the most basic thing that the league can do, and it will send a message to players that these types of hits will not be tolerated. Because the NHL has failed to do that, blatant elbows, and other egregious plays similar to the McDavid/Kotkaniemi will continue to happen, by not properly disciplining these types of incidents, the NHL is effectively allowing these types of hits to happen. 

 “We need only to penalize all hits to the head, because whether a blow is from a stick, an elbow, a shoulder or a fist, whether it’s done intentionally or accidentally, whether it’s legal or illegal, the brain doesn’t distinguish.” Hockey Hall of fame netminder and six-time Stanley Cup Champion Ken Dryden writes in an essay for The Players’ Tribune, “the damage is the same.”