Leafs' Ryan Reaves Fires Back on Darnell Nurse After Returning From Suspension
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.
POLL |
DECEMBRE 3 | 64 ANSWERS Leafs' Ryan Reaves Fires Back on Darnell Nurse After Returning From Suspension Do you think Darnell Nurse was right to call out Ryan Reaves? |
Yes | 50 | 78.1 % |
No | 13 | 20.3 % |
See Results | 1 | 1.6 % |
List of polls |
|
11 hours ago | By Liam McCormick Worst Defenceman on Edmonton Oilers Could See Increased Role With Team |
|
11 hours ago | By Liam McCormick Edmonton Oilers Will Have Significant Update on Evander Kane's Injury Imminently |
|
14 hours ago | By Liam McCormick Insider Reveals Oilers Were Moments Away From Acquiring Jakob Chychrun in Trade |
|
15 hours ago | By Liam McCormick Oilers and Canucks Competing for Penguins Top Four Defenceman in Trade |
|
16 hours ago | By Liam McCormick Reason Why Edmonton Oilers Demoted Zach Hyman To The Third Line Revealed |
|
18 hours ago | By Liam McCormick Oilers GM Stan Bowman Addresses Team Response to Zadorov Checking Stuart Skinner |
|
19 hours ago | By Liam McCormick Edmonton Oilers Cancel Team Event That Has Taken Place for 10 Years |
|
20 hours ago | By Liam McCormick NHL Postpones Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings Game After State of Emergency |
Previously on Oilers Daily