BREAKING: NHL commissioner issues major statement on Morgan Rielly

On Saturday, February 10, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators set the hockey world on fire as Maple Leafs defenseman incited an all out brawl in the battle of Ontario as he went after Senators center Ridly Greig, who put the finishing touches on a 5-3 victory with an empty-netter slapshot.

Immediately after Grieg went for the slapshot, Morgan Rielly mad a b-line towards Grieg and cross checked him in the face, sending him crashing into the boards and inciting a miniature riot on the ice.

The moment immediately went viral as fans on both sides debated. If you ask Senators fans, Grieg was just playing until the buzzer and if you don't want it to happen, don't let him score. If you ask Leafs fans, Grieg was out of line and deserved to be cross checked.


Regardless of what fans thought, on Feb. 13 the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman suspended Morgan Rielly for five games. Rielly immediately appealed the suspension, and Bettman's final decision came earlier on Tuesday.



Bettman upheld the suspension, and also issued an interesting statement not only regarding the decision, but regarding Rielly and the incident that transpired.


The most interesting part of this statement came when Bettman essentially called Grieg's slapshot 'irrelevant'.