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Vancouver Canucks defenceman Carson Soucy is in trouble with the NHL for an incident that happened after last night’s game
A skirmish after Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers ended with Soucy giving Connor McDavid a vicious cross-check to the face.
The Canucks player was given a one-game suspension by the league today. However, he says that there was no malicious purpose behind his actions.
“Just an unfortunate incident due to some timing,” said Soucy when asked about the play.
“There wasn’t any intent to get a player up that high.”
A scrum ensues after the final horn. pic.twitter.com/Jxf59Jphif
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 13, 2024
The scrum started when McDavid gave Soucy a hard slash. The Canucks defenceman retaliated with a cross-check that appeared to be headed for the Oilers star’s chest. However, Nikita Zadorov gave McDavid a slash in the back at that very moment, sending the superstar tumbling and resulting in Soucy hitting McDavid’s face.
“Unfortunate,” said head coach Rick Tocchet about the play. “His intent was to probably hit [McDavid] in the chest, unfortunately, he went down.”
“Could’ve been,” said Soucy when asked if Zadorov’s cross-check led to McDavid’s head being the primary point of contact. “There was no intent to get him up that high. Whatever happened in that split second was just kind of unfortunate.”
Zadorov was fined $5,000 for his actions but avoided any suspension. Soucy will miss tomorrow’s game in Edmonton.
Vancouver’s Carson Soucy has been suspended for one playoff game for cross-checking Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. https://t.co/EMKIXgUB2R
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 13, 2024
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety had a hearing by phone with Soucy today before making their decision. The defenceman said the meeting lasted a few minutes as both sides got to explain their key points.
“It would suck obviously,” said the Canucks D-man about the prospect of missing a game before the news came out. “In a tight series like this, a physical series. I know guys would step up if that is the case but yeah it sucks having to watch your team.”
Soucy has been suspended once before when he was given one game for a hit on now-teammate Conor Garland. He’s not particularly known for a mean streak.
The Canucks defenceman was happy to hear that McDavid was feeling fine today.
“As you can see afterwards I was almost apologizing, didn’t mean to get him up that high,” explained Soucy.
“He’s probably the nicest guy on this team,” said Noah Juulsen about his teammate.