The NHL issued a three-game suspension to Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid this week for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland late in their game this weekend.
McDavid was angry after he had been tackled to the ice and held down by Garland — with no penalty called — as the Oilers were attempting to tie the game.
On Tuesday night, the Oilers decided to issue a very bizarre — and relatively pointless — statement regarding the suspension.
"The Oilers organization is disappointed and we share in our fans' frustration over the three-game suspension of our captain Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans look forward to having him back in the lineup vs. Seattle next week."
This is not the type of statement a team normally makes following a suspension. It almost seems like a statement just for the sake of making a statement and feeding into the fans' anger.
Especially when it was a pretty justified suspension where McDavid took exception to the lack of a penalty, took matters into his own hands and delivered a cheap shot.
There is also no longer a process to support him through. He was punished, he is not appealing and he will return to the lineup in a few games.
There is a very real discussion to be had regarding the NHL, its officiating and the way it treats star players. While leagues like the NFL and NBA go out of their way to cater to their best players and protect their best players, the NHL tends to do the exact opposite and expects its star players to fight through even more. McDavid should have drawn a penalty on the play. He should probably draw more penalties than he does, and if the NHL cared about highlighting its best players, there would be more consistency in that area.
The lack of a penalty, however, does not give any player the right or freedom to deliver a cross-check to an opponent's face.
He has every right to be frustrated. The NHL's star players have a right to be frustrated with how they are treated. But the suspension is justified.
Despite the Oilers' strange statement, McDavid has decided to take a different approach. He broke silence on the matter and offered sage advice on the matter — and the Oilers would be wise to follow suit.
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More news continues to come out regarding John Tortorella’s last few weeks as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. In an article from Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, the Philadelphia-based reporter succinctly described Tortorella’s growing feud between Flyers management and defenseman Cam York. For context, York was benched for much of Tortorella’s last game as Philadelphia’s head coach and for the entirety of the Flyers’ game Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, which interim head coach Brad Shaw described as a “disciplinary issue.” As mentioned in Kurz’s article, and later confirmed by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, there was a "heated verbal exchange" between Tortorella and York that led to the former’s ouster as head coach and the latter’s lack of ice time Thursday night. Kurz noted the growing tension between York and Tortorella dating back to the trade deadline, when after being a healthy scratch, York said, “I mean, I’m not playing to prove him anything. I’m playing for the guys in this locker room and the logo on my chest. I’m not playing for him, necessarily, if that makes sense.” Questioned about the incident after Thursday night’s contest, Kurz quoted York with a generically pacified response. “I’m not going to get into the details of it. I will say this, I take full responsibility for my actions. It’s been addressed here in the locker room. It’s something that I’m going to put behind me and move on from. We’ve got eight games left here and that’s my focus right now. We’ll leave it at that.” Frustration had been mounting around Tortorella at all levels of the Flyers organization, leading to his ouster shortly before the regular season’s conclusion. Other notes from the Eastern Conference: According to a team announcement, Andrei Svechnikov will return to the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The former second overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft had missed Carolina’s previous seven games with an upper-body injury. Despite being the fourth-highest scorer on the team, the Hurricanes have fared well without Svechnikov, managing a 5-2-0 record in his absence. Moving to the Atlantic Division, the Boston Bruins welcomed back defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who had missed the team’s last game due to a personal leave. Hopefully, for the Bruins’ sake, Zadorov’s return to the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night will give Boston a much-needed jolt. The team has performed dreadfully since the trade deadline in early March, managing a 2-7-1 record in its last 10 games while being outscored by a 19-goal margin.
Andy Roddick is already looking ahead to Jannik Sinner’s return as the clay swing begins. The Italian’s three-month suspension started in early February, and he is set to make his comeback at the Rome Open, starting on May 7. The world No. 1 will return to competition while still holding the top ranking despite his months off and having played only one tournament this season—his Australian Open title run in January. Sinner initially avoided suspension after the ITIA found "no fault or negligence" in his doping case from March 2024. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed, seeking a ban of one to two years, but eventually reached a settlement with Sinner, reducing it to just three months to close the case. Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick previewed Sinner’s return in a column for Blog Betway, stating that the Rome Open—where Sinner will play at home—is the perfect setting to move past the controversy. “Sinner will return at the Italian Open, and his home crowd in Rome is going to go nuts. With the amount of support and fame that he has in Italy, I’m not sure there could have been a better place for him to come back” “He’s played well in Turin and won the ATP Finals there, but he didn’t play Rome last year so they haven’t seen Jannik since he’s become the best player in the world,” the 2003 US Open champion added. “I’m not worried about any noise around his return affecting him, because that’s been there since last year’s U.S. Open and he won two majors in that time. I think he has the respect of people in the locker room, even if they disagree with the confusing nature of the doping protocols and what they may view as inconsistencies. Maybe you have a couple of yahoos who are more interested in tweeting opinions than actually reading facts, but Jannik is pretty understated. I don’t think he’s going to walk in with any sort of combative nature.” The American considered that, in any case, playing on clay definitely does not favour Sinner, and that having fewer clay tournaments to prepare for the French Open will make it more difficult for him to return to his previous level of dominance before the suspension. “The fact is he’s coming back, but he’ll be coming back on the surface that is probably not his favourite.” “That doesn’t mean he’s not great on it, but he’s judged against his own shadow and if there’s anything concrete under his feet then he’s dominant, he added. “His preparation for Paris will likely be affected. I don’t think you can be out for three months and come back as if nothing has changed. Maybe it’s like riding a bike, but I don’t think playing a normal schedule and not playing for three months are the same.
Sporting royalty graced Hard Rock Stadium on Friday as Lionel Messi watched Novak Djokovic in action in the semifinal of the Miami Open. After Djokovic breezed to victory in just 69 minutes, Messi greeted him in the locker room. The two sporting icons "exchanged gifts" and shared pleasantries. Djokovic revealed another interesting tidbit from their meeting in his post-match news conference. According to Djokovic, one of Messi's sons wasn't all that impressed by his straight-sets win over Grigor Dimitrov and felt he could have played better. The 24-time major winner added that he had been challenged to up his game in Sunday's final against Jakob Mensik. "I was rated by one of his sons today as 8/10, which is pretty good," Djokovic told reporters. "He, with a serious face, told me I have to make 10 out of 10 next match. So, I have quite a bit of pressure from Messi's son there. Yeah, we joked around. It was nice to meet with his whole family. It was very touching moment for me because it's one thing that he comes, but then bringing his whole family, his kids, his wife. As a young father myself, I know what that means. I was very touched by that." If anything, Djokovic seemed to up his game in the presence of Messi. Djokovic completed 87% of his first serves, his highest mark of any game in 2025, and won 79% of those points, per Infosys ATP Stats. The 37-year-old hasn't dropped a solitary set en route to Sunday's final, where he will face teenager Mensik. While Djokovic is seeking his career 100th ATP title, Mensik, 19, is eyeing his first. Either way, tennis history will be altered in a battle of two different generations.
The New England Patriots are a long way from the team that was the scourge of the NFL when Bill Belichick was the head coach and Tom Brady was the team’s leader under center. While the glory days of the Patriots are not quite ancient history, the team has been moving in the wrong direction since Brady left for Tampa Bay at the conclusion of the 2019 season. The Patriots went 4-13 last season and Mike Vrabel was hired to become the team’s new head coach. The Patriots have been extremely active in free agency in an effort to give their new head coach a real opportunity to put a winning team on the field. Eliot Wolf, who has the title of Director of Scouting and also serves as the team’s general manager, has added talent in a number of areas. The most notable move was the signing of big-play wideout Stefon Diggs, a receiver who had tormented the Patriots for years when he was with the Buffalo Bills. Diggs, 31, has been one of the most productive wideouts in the NFL as he combines his brilliant route running with his athletic ability. He had six straight regular seasons with 1,000 receiving yards or more from 2018 through 2023. The wide receiver played a big role in helping quarterback Josh Allen become one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He had four straight seasons with the Bills in which he had 100 receptions or more. Landry has the ability to provide Patriots with consistency on D Some of the other big-name free agents signed by the Patriots include former Philadelphia Eagle defensive tackle Milton Williams, ex-Detroit Lion cornerback Carlton Davis, former Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane, former New York Jets offensive tackle Morgan Moses, ex-Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga and former Minnesota Vikings center Garrett Bradbury. However, the Patriots sneakiest signing could be the addition of linebacker Harold Landry. Vrabel was able to get his former pass rushing star to join him in New England when he agreed to a 3-year, $43.5 million contract. Wolf wanted to make his new head coach happy by bringing him his former player with the Titans. In addition to being very familiar for Vrabel, playing for the Patriots represents something of a homecoming for Landry because he played his college football at Boston College. The Edge rusher is coming off a solid season with the Titans in which he recorded 71 tackles, 9.0 sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 15 quarterback hits. He was also quite productive in the 2023 season when he had 70 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 21 quarterback hits. Landry didn’t know how he would perform that year because he was coming back from a torn ACL that didn’t allow him to play at all in 2022. However, he put in the work that was required to come back in impressive fashion from that injury. Landry had his best year in 2021 when he had 75 tackles and 12.0 sacks while making the Pro Bowl for the only time in his career. The former second-round draft choice in 2018 also had 14 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits. In addition to being a productive pass rusher from the edge, Landry is very solid against the run. His ability to keep the ground game in check means he can be an every-down player for Vrabel once again. Landry is an extremely hard worker Landry came back from his ACL injury at nearly the same level he was at before his injury. That was testimony to the effort that he conducted his rehab with and speaks well to his preparation. The Patriots are likely to see that on an every-game basis. A player like Williams is going to command most of the attention by opposing offenses and so is Davis in the secondary. Landry will be content to do his job on an every-game basis and help the Patriots get back to respectability. He is one of those dependable players that will live up to the old Belichick philosophy of “doing your job.” That will help the Patriots put a respectable and perhaps winning team on the field in 2025.
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