The NHL's Department of Player Safety has once again chosen to throw the book at a Toronto Maple Leaf, forcing Morgan Rielly to serve out the full 5 games of his 5-game suspension, stemming from a cross-checking incident involving Ottawa's Ridly Greig a couple of weeks back.
After Greig had wound up and took a full-blown slap shot into an empty net to secure a 5-3 win for Ottawa 2 weeks ago, Rielly took exception and went after Greig, attempting to deliver a cross-check to Greig's shoulder, which rode up and caught him in the head. As a result, Rielly was issued an in-person hearing and a 5-game suspension is what the result was. After a lengthy appeal process, Rielly did not have his suspension reduced, despite the clear precedent indicating that it should have been reduced. Nevertheless, he returned last night after a 5-game absence and helped the Leafs secure a 7-3 win in Vegas.
During the game, iconic Leafs play-by-play announcer Joe Bowen did one of the coolest things I've ever witnessed in my 30+ years of hockey fandom. He subtly mocked Gary Bettman, George Parros and the Department of Player Safety following a routine Morgan Rielly hit.
If we're out here awarding brownie points, I'll empty the whole box for Bowen here. This was one of the best things I've heard from an announcer and is just evidence of why this guy should still be on television, instead of being stuck doing the radio play-by-play. Epic stuff from Bonsie here.
