Leafs' Ryan Reaves Fires Back on Darnell Nurse After Returning From Suspension

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Liam McCormick
December 3, 2024 (2:37 PM)

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Maple Leafs Forward Ryan Reaves returned from his suspension after his hit against Oilers' Darnell Nurse, and Reaves didn't shy away from talking about Nurse calling him out.

Ryan Reaves said that he does go out looking to inflict pain on others with his physical play, and that he won't stop. Reaves also did admit his hit on Nurse was dirty.

Yeah, I'm going to keep playing hard if not harder now, & I'm going to keep burying guys.
- Ryan Reaves

Reaves' comments are a direct response to Nurse, who used the exact phrase of inflicting pain on the opponent.

You can argue about the intent, but there's certain guys in the league that each shift they go out there, try and go inflict pain. I think it's pretty obvious what was going on there.
- Darnell Nurse

Ryan Reaves served a five game suspension for his predatory hit against Nurse when the Oilers met the Leafs in Toronto. Nurse went on to miss three games with what was described as an upper body injury.

Ryan Reaves' Doubles Down After Returning From Suspension For Hit Against Darnell Nurse

Nurse's comments and the injury he sustained raise the debate of whether pure enforcers like Reaves should even be in hockey anymore.

No hockey fan wants to see a player like Reaves, who's only here looking to inflict pain, injure another team's star players. And yet, that's exactly what Reaves is doubling down on.

Fighting in hockey has been on the decline for years, and as a result, there's few pure enforcers like Reaves left in the NHL. Hockey is shifting more towards the attitude that skill should prevail over purely inflicting pain, and it's making for a much more entertaining game.