A.J. Greer’s suspension simply wasn’t long enough
There has been plenty of consternation surrounding George Parros and the NHL Department of Player Safety lately.
After Anaheim’s Radko Gudas ended Toronto captain Auston Matthews’ season with a knee-on-knee hit, resulting in Gudas receiving the maximum five-game suspension possible after a phone hearing, pressure on Parros ratcheted up when Connor McDavid called for an evaluation of the league’s disciplinary process.
Parros got a golden opportunity to show player safety was being taken seriously when Florida Panthers winger A.J. Greer boarded Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary in extremely dangerous fashion. Instead, it was another phone hearing and just three games for Greer.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed why Parros and the Department of Player Safety fell short with their decision to give Greer just three games at a crucial point.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I think this is about as dirtbag as dirtbag gets, man. One thing you don’t see in this replay, A.J. Greer was already getting a hooking penalty on the play. So the arm was up, he knew he was going to the box, and just out of frustration buries a guy five feet from behind into the boards. This is, again, A.J. Greer’s gotten away with a lot of dumb shit. All those jokes about the Department of Player Safety being the Department of Panther Safety, like, yeah, the NHL had a chance to end a narrative here, especially with all the comments over the last week. Florida is out of the playoff race. A.J. Greer is a known repeat, dirtbag player. They could have thrown 10 games at him and sent a message that you don’t hit guys from behind in that spot… This checked every box for a long suspension, and the NHL took the coward’s way out.
Carter Hutton: Yeah, this is absolute bullshit, Ty, you’re not gonna get an argument for me. This is a play in hockey that you teach kids when they start playing hockey that is one of the most dangerous plays you can do, when a player’s going into the boards like that and the fact you add to the matter is this is the NHL and this is a guy who has a penalty… This is a bullshit play. This is more than hockey, this is about a guy that’s get to get up the next day and live his life… [this] could paralyze a guy for life.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…