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The NHL community waited for hours to get confirmation on Morgan Rielly's hearing for his cross-check to the head of Ottawa Senators' Ridley Greig. Now, the verdict is seemingly in.
According to NHL insider, the Kevin Weekes, Rielly has been served a five-game suspension by the NHL Player Safety department.
Some fans initially expected a six-game suspension as the hearing was set to be in-person. However, inclement weather in New York played a role and it was conducted virtual instead.
NHL fans weighed in on the verdict with there being a clear divide as to whether the length of the suspension was justified or not.
One fan however was quick to note that Rielly suspension would weaken the Maple Leafs' blue line dramatically.
One Senators fan felt the five-game suspension is just the right amount of punishment Morgan Rielly deserves.
Another fan, however, feels the tenure is too less and that a stricter punishment should have been meeted out to the veteran blueliner.
Complete timeline of the Morgan Rielly's cross check on Ridly Greig
During an NHL matchup between the Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators last Saturday, Ridly Greig clinched a 5-3 victory for the Senators in the Battle of Ontario with an empty-net goal in the closing moments. However, Greig deviated from customary NHL norms by forcefully shooting the puck into the net from close proximity.
In response to the contentious goal, Morgan Rielly expressed displeasure and approached Greig as he celebrated. Rielly then delivered a forceful cross-check to Greig, causing him to fall to the ice.
While Greig initially remained down, he eventually regained his footing. Rielly incurred a five-minute major penalty, leading to an in-person hearing. However, adverse weather conditions in Toronto necessitated a switch to a virtual hearing format.
Rielly's teammates voiced thier support
On Monday, as reported by TSN, Rielly garnered additional backing from his teammates such as Ryan Reaves and Auston Matthews,
'I thought [Rielly’s response] was appropriate," Ryan Reaves said of Greig on Monday. "I don’t see how a kid that young thinks it’s appropriate to do something like that."
Auston Matthews also believes what Rielly did was appropriate.
"I think it definitely deserved a reaction," Matthews said. "Morgan's not a malicious player and somebody that's dirty by any means ... Him [Rielly] approaching him [Greig] was something that was bound to happen, somebody was going to do it"
