Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has missed his team's last four games after being suspended for a questionable hit on Florida Panthers' blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson back on Oct. 30.
After serving the four-contest ban, the star American admitted he “made a mistake” after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the suspension earlier this week.
“I think I've established myself as someone who can play a physical style and do it clean. I made a mistake,” McAvoy explained.
“I asked for forgiveness and I was forgiven when I spoke to Oliver. I made a mistake. I play the game hard but I play it respectful, and this definitely felt like it's sort of a sight to my character, but then again, it was me that made the hit.”
McAvoy received a match penalty halfway through the third period in a 3-2 Bruins win over the Panthers at the end of October, catching Ekman-Larsson with a high check to the head. He was suspended for what the NHL Department of Player Safety called “avoidable contact.”
McAvoy confused by suspension length
“The way we understood it and the way that it was explained to us by [the head of NHL player safety] George [Parros] was that a rule 48 suspension [for an illegal check to the head] … those start at two games,” McAvoy continued.
“And then you have two factors after that — injury and history. There's no injury on the play and I have a history [of being suspended] so, two plus one is three, it's not four. But I guess there's not really anything we can do about it.”
The 25-year-old was slapped with a single-game ban for a hit to the head of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson back in 2019.
“It sort of seemed like a new standard to us that they're trying to get across,” McAvoy finished. “While I'm grateful for them taking the time to listen to me and give me a chance at that, I think it's certainly a difficult position for them to be put in.”
Charlie McAvoy will return to a Boston team that went 3-1 in his absence; he'll look to make an immediate impact when the 11-1-1 Bruins head to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Saturday night.
Follow Us
Subscribe