Edmonton Oilers: NHL Hypocrisy and Incompetence Wrapped In One

The Edmonton Oilers haven’t gotten a fair shake with the NHL for years, suspending Connor McDavid days ago and now most likely letting an opposing player walk away scotch free.

The silver lining for the past two games for the Edmonton Oilers is that they finally won two games in a row. For the first time in nearly a month, the Oilers have strung together a small winning streak. After the turmoil this organization has gone through for the past few weeks, it’s refreshing to see some glimmer of hope on the ice, especially after these latest wins.

But there have been something brewing the past few days regarding these wins. It’s something that has been blatant and obvious for most hockey fans and media alike. It’s only two words: league hypocrisy.

It was stupid and biased on the NHL to suspend Connor McDavid for two games. That hit he made on Nick Leddy was accidental at best. Even Connor admitted that after the game and said he was trying to finish a check, and the hit was unfortunate.

The fact of the matter is that Connor has gotten that same treatment over the years when other players play him dirty or try to injure him. He hasn’t gotten those benefits from the refs or the league, and now he got suspended two games for an accidental hit. He’s the best player in the league, not a repeat dirty offender.

After witnessing last night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, the league has to give a similar punishment to a star player. The talk of the night was Corey Perry’s illegal hit in the head on Darnell Nurse, and the officials did nothing about it.

If the NHL is serious about protecting the players’ health then at least Perry should be suspended one game for an attempt like that. He can’t walk away with his hands clean after pulling a stunt like that. If an example was set with Connor McDavid, the same has to be said for Corey Perry.

If Perry walks away free after that hit, this league will be a parody of its own hypocritical rules.