NHL commissioner Gary Bettman upheld Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly's five-game suspension for cross-checking Senators forward Ridly Greig in an 11-page ruling.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly's five-game suspension is upheld after an appeal, the NHL announced Tuesday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman heard Rielly's appeal last Friday and determined the decision to suspend him for five games was supported by clear and convincing evidence.
Rielly was suspended for cross-checking Ottawa Senators Ridly Greig after the forward scored an empty-net goal with a slapshot on Feb. 10. He's already served four of those games.
Bettman noted in his 11-page ruling that despite the play had ended "and the game was effectively over, Mr. Rielly changed his course and skated toward Mr. Greig with purpose." Rielly covered some distance, raised his stick high and intentionally struck the left side of Greig's head with substantial force, Bettman added.
The NHL Players' Association filed an appeal on behalf of Rielly. It argued that Rielly did not intentionally cross-check Greig in the head because he intended to strike his body and that when the stick rode up from the arm to make contact with Greig's head, he released one hand from his stick to lessen the force.
The NHLPA also argued that the five-game suspension was excessive compared to supplementary discipline imposed for similar infractions by other players in the past.
Bettman said there is no formula to determine appropriate supplementary discipline and that the NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement recognizes that each case is unique and must be decided on its own circumstances.
As for the argument about Rielly's aim, Bettman said Rielly raised the stick to the level of Greig's head and neck "and drove it forcefully and intentionally" into Greig.
"This is not a case where Mr. Rielly's stick was delivered to the midsection or shoulder and 'rode up' to Mr. Greig's head," Bettman said. He did not credit that Rielly tried to lessen the blow by removing a hand from his stick, either, because he skated over to Greig and leaned into the check.
Part of the circumstances in this case involved the situation of the game. In this case, with five seconds left, any penalties were effectively meaningless, with the game out of reach.
This was not a case where Rielly and Greig were engaging with one another, and it was not an inadvertent high stick during play, according to the ruling.
"Rather, as Mr. Rielly himself acknowledged, he sought retribution for what he perceived to be a 'disrespectful' act that he believed was intended to embarrass Toronto," Bettman's ruling said.
"Although much of the testimony offered by (Rielly, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving and team president Brendan Shanahan) at the hearing concerned whether Mr. Greig's slapshot was provocative, that discussion is utterly irrelevant," Bettman later said in the ruling. "Mr. Rielly's actions were not undertaken in self-defense."
The commissioner finished his ruling by saying Rielly's conduct in this case is out of character with his long record of clean play and that he expects it was just an aberration. Bettman also commended Rielly for "forthrightly disavowing suggestions that have been made publicly by others that his actions were somehow appropriate."
Rielly will sit out Wednesday's game between the Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes. The 29-year-old is eligible to return on the second of the team's back-to-back games, Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
For more on other arguments by the NHLPA and Maple Leafs that Bettman addressed, including the comparison to a list of other suspensions, visit The Hockey News' Toronto Maple Leafs site.