Kraken Coach Hakstol "Frustrated" By Uneven Penalties, League Discipline

“Stars – They’re Just Like Us,” Us Magazine likes to proclaim.

No, they’re actually not. In pro sports, the stars aren’t even treated like the other players. LeBron James doesn’t get called for traveling. Justin Verlander gets an extra inch on his strike zone.

Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (CM) cross-checks Seattle’s Yanni Gourde (YG) down to the ice during Thursday’s 4-2 Oilers win. Sportsnet Screengrab

And Thursday night, Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid wasn’t called for a blatant cross-check of Seattle Kraken Yanni Gourde on a faceoff. The two-hander in his back sent Gourde to his knees, grimacing in pain.

That helps explain why a clearly salty Gourde, on the same shift, committed a major charging penalty on Mattias Ekholm. Because Gourde left his feet and there was contact with Ekholm’s head, Gourde will sit out an NHL-imposed two game suspension.

According to the Canadian Press, “Gourde will forfeit $53,819 in salary under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association.”

None of that would have happened if McDavid was penalized seconds earlier.

“Stuff gets missed. We should have been on the power play,” coach Dave Hakstol said after Saturday’s practice. “We got a guy who’s 5-foot-10 who takes two cross-checks from a star player. That was frustrating.”

Hakstol contrasted the NHL Dep’t. of Player Safety coming down harder on Gourde than on Columbus’ Cole Sillinger, who boarded Matty Beniers head-first last Saturday. Sillinger did not face supplemental discipline from the league; Beniers hasn’t played since.

“I’m comparing that (Gourde’s hit on Ekholm) to the hit that Matty took. For me, that’s a more violent hit. The end result is we’re going forward without Gordo for a couple of games, and without Matty.”