There might only be one person in the entire city of Vancouver who didn’t want to see Connor McDavid suspended for his cross-check on Conor Garland: Rick Tocchet.
The Canucks head coach spoke on Tuesday about both McDavid and Tyler Myers’ three-game bans, expressing a sentiment you rarely see from opposing coaches of suspended players.
“I think it’s just unfortunate and it’s a tough job,” he said. “It’s a tough job for referees, a tough job for George Parros, all this is tough.
“I just don’t like the grandstanding. It is what it is. I don’t want Connor McDavid to be suspended. We’re playing him. I mean I’ll be honest, you want to play the best. He’s terrific for our league, he’s an unbelievable kid from what I’ve been told, the way he works on his game, unreal for the game. It happened, so you deal with it. Same thing with Mysy.”
“We have a big challenge tonight. We have to have the same kind of mindset against this team."
🗣 Head Coach Rick Tocchet discusses tonight's game against the Sabres.#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/WIYeMnxsKL
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 21, 2025
The suspensions have drawn the ire of players and pundits around the hockey world. Oilers players and others in the game, like Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, have sympathized with McDavid, citing the league’s inability to protect its star players.
Tocchet, meanwhile, expressed how ready he was to move on from things, once again highlighting how what occured in Saturday’s game puts everybody involved in difficult spots.
“For me, it’s a tough position for everybody,” he said. “It’s really hard for eveyrone to sit on the couch and rip everybody, I have a tough time with that. A lot of people are grandstanding.
“Wes McCauley is one of the best refs in the league. Okay, it was a hold — a couple holds there? Yeah, okay. They didn’t get called for whatever reason, there’s 10 seconds left. We can go back and forth. It’s a three-game suspsenion, and it is what it is. We got to move on with this. That’s what I think.”
McDavid missed Tuesday’s game for the Oilers, one they lost 3-2 to the Washington Capitals, while Myers was out of the Canucks’ game against the Buffalo Sabres the same night, which they lost 3-2, too. Both will be out of the lineup Thursday when the Oilers and Canucks meet for their season-series finale, while McDavid will miss the Oilers’ Saturday game against Buffalo, and Myers will miss Saturday’s against the Capitals.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
