Why the NHL decided on a five-game suspension for Maple Leafs’ Rielly

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly was suspended five games Tuesday for cross-checking Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig in the head on Saturday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced.

Rielly was assessed a match penalty in the final five seconds of a 5-3 loss against the Senators after Greig fired a slap shot into the empty net and Rielly responded by cross-checking the 21-year-old up high.

The league, in explaining the decision, said it was not a hockey play and added a strike to the head was easily avoidable.

Because the suspension is under six games, Rielly’s lone appeal option is to commissioner Gary Bettman.

“This is not the case of two players mutually jousting where both players could reasonably expect escalating contact or for both players’ sticks to come up high,” the narrator of the Department of Player Safety video says in explaining the decision. “This is also not an inadvertent or accidental use of the stick while leveraging for body position or for other hockey purposes. This play occurs well after the goal has been scored, late in the game with the score out of reach and for the sole purpose of retribution.”

Rielly was supposed to have an in-person hearing, which meant the Department of Player Safety would have the option to suspend him for more than five games. Although he initially planned to travel to New York City for the hearing, Rielly opted to do it virtually due to a snowstorm in the area.

With this suspension, Rielly will forfeit more than $195,312 in salary.

“Rielly pursues Greig for some time and has sufficient opportunity to engage him in a different manner or ensure this cross-check is delivered solely to the body,” the narrator says.

“… In short, this is not a hockey play. This is an intentional forceful strike to an opponent’s head, using a stick as a weapon to exact retribution well after a goal has been scored.”

Meanwhile, the Senators showed Greig’s goal on the big screen several times before their home game on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This is the first time Rielly has been suspended in his 11-year career. Before Saturday night, the defenceman had eight minutes in penalties this season.

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