Brian Burke sounds off on Oilers reaction to Connor McDavid suspension
Former NHL general manager Brian Burke is one of the few voices left pedalling old-school hockey, but even he thought Connor McDavid deserved his suspension and the Oilers reaction was over the top.
Connor McDavid was given a three-game suspension for his cross check on Connor Garland against the Vancouver Canucks last week.
Brian Burke says Connor McDavid suspension was deserved and fair
On the latest episode of The Sheet Podcast with Jeff Marek, Burke said he believed McDavid's suspension was totally justified.
I'm being repetitive, but you can't say he's a great player, like I saw Ekholm said - Draisaitl said, «I guess they don't care if the best players play.» Yes, we all want the best players to play. We don't want them to have free license, unlimited freedom to cross check.
- Brian Burke
Burke specifically referenced Draisaitl's quote, which criticized the NHL's refereeing and decision to suspend McDavid entirely.
While McDavid absolutely did deserve a suspension for the play, Burke is missing the larger point behind Oilers fans frustrations about the incident.
McDavid was being mauled by Garland and is unable to draw penalties at the rate he should be, and the Oilers captain simply snapped. The penalty and officiating were far more important than Garland.
The Edmonton Oilers released a statement condemning the suspension, and Connor McDavid spoke out about the decision being a game too harsh.
Not only that, McDavid or Myers shouldn't have even got three games for their suspension. Previous precedent was set from Auston Matthews and Carson Soucy's suspensions - cross checks to the face being worth 2 games.
Being the General Manager of the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs, Burke may have some real bias toward the Oilers.
It's pretty clear by Burke's statement here that he just misses the real point of the problems behind this incident.
