Sens Writer: OTT Defeats TOR 5-3, Wins Battle of Ontario

I love how former players/pundits/keefe saying it was justified due to Griegs actions. Saying it is okay to cross check a guy in the head because he hot dogs during/after a goal.

Okay then. Slippery slope for some Leaf players who celebrate a little too hard when they score. t
Let's apply that frontier justice to them and see how that works out.

And just so we are clear...yes, someone on the leafs should have gone after Grieg. A little face wash, run him into the boards, let him know he did something unacceptable, etc.

Cross check to the head, after a play, unsuspecting player...its a suspension. should be 5 games but Reilly doesn't have a history and, you know, its the Leafs.

What was the more unprofessional play, more worthy of revenge, from last night...what Grieg did or the Detroit player doing the Gritty on ice just after the penalty shot on OT?

I think the bigger issue for the Leafs is they are without their best D for a period of time. And they need to win games. Right or wrong actions, Reilly can't take himself out of lineup when they need wins.

Great game from the Sens. On all fronts.

Great writeup khawk, much appreciated for all you do for this blog.

Sheldon Keefe should know better. What Rielly did was and always will be dangerous and has zero place in this game. Calling it 'appropriate' is sickening to hear from an adult human being in a position of authority. Yeah, it was a lame showboat, but if you can't watch a crass celly without feeling you need to decapitate somebody, you need to look into a lithium prescription and re-examine your priorities in life. Then to subsequently come out and defend that behavior? These men are allegedly grown ups. They should learn to act like it.

Sheldon Queef was a scumbag player, so he probably believes it's fine.

Like many have said, a hit was warranted, but a crosscheck to the head is way too far. Reilly has an in-person hearing, so that usually means at least 5 games.

The lady on SN made me laugh. She called Greig classless... But a crosscheck to the head after scoring a goal is fine, lol.

We learned how fragile the Leafs were last night. I thought it was great and the first game of next season they will be focussed on trying to show how tough they are and will forget there is a hockey game to win.

The whole situation was hilarious and showed the rest of the league how to throw that team out of their groove. We just gave the Bruins the recipe of how to sweep them in the first round this year.

I also feel this is karma as well for the way the Leafs fans always try to turn Ottawa into a second home rink. I am sick of the over-drinking boorish behaviour of the fans when they all come driving down the 401 liquored up and looking to just be jerks the whole night. Ridley Greig made a lotta fans last night and is living rent free in his opponents heads, living up to the Brad Marchand comparables from when he was drafted. And if it makes the other team lose players for multiple games for stupid barbarian style revenge fantasies while we walk away with all that matters, a statement win, then all the better.

Ken: Thank you so much for your pulling together your blog update. You know how grateful we all are for your efforts in keeping us in the loop.

Ridley Greig, a 21 year old rookie, humiliated the Leafs. Leaf nation has worked themselves into a slow boil that is about to erupt into a ballistic rage. Ridley Greig became an overnight hero in every Canadian market except for one.

The slap shot heard round the NHL will likely trigger an appropriate suspension for the Morgan Reilly response. The length of the suspension is not really all that important.

But, the impending suspension is not the only reason causing so much upset for various Toronto sports media outlets. They are upset because Greig revealed just how fragile, unreliable and soft this Leaf team has become.

The Greig slapper was a brilliant message. It said, "we don't respect you." Now, deal with it. Leaf nation and especially Leaf media have gone into full melt down.

The cross check to the head now represents the full shame of Leaf nation. Clearly, no one will deny, Ridley Greig has hurt their feelings.

Great game.
Great write up (thank you for this)

I mean. We common sense folk are all on the same page about the slap shot and the reaction. Keefe's lucky nothing happened after he threw Reeves out there because that's suspension worthy - and probably would have led to his dismissal which isn't far away anyhow.

Up next - 2 very winnable hockey games this week to continue to get the Sens closer to .500.

What fantastic superbowl with a lousy ending. I'm not an Usher fan but the level of chorography that went into that one.....damn. And HE was actually singing mostly which is impressive considering the dancing, the roller skating etc etc. Reba's anthem was good.....Stapleton's was better and will be the one to beat for a long time.

David Frost protege Sheldon Keefe continues to be embarrassingly in over his head. Toronto is a soft team as evident by 34,16 and 88 afraid to engage after Reilly’s cheap shot. Cowardly team will continue to remind their fan base 1967 won’t be equaled anytime soon. Pathetic franchise….

Great writeup khawk, much appreciated for all you do for this blog.

Sheldon Keefe should know better. What Rielly did was and always will be dangerous and has zero place in this game. Calling it 'appropriate' is sickening to hear from an adult human being in a position of authority. Yeah, it was a lame showboat, but if you can't watch a crass celly without feeling you need to decapitate somebody, you need to look into a lithium prescription and re-examine your priorities in life. Then to subsequently come out and defend that behavior? These men are allegedly grown ups. They should learn to act like it.
- Bartacus

Yeah if they were that angry then drop the gloves. The punishment would almost certainly be less than what hes facing now.

I have to wonder if Keefe / leafs fans will still feel so strongly in favor of the move if the punishment Reilly faces is over 6 games.
.

I liked the Ridley Grieg slapper as it showed just the hypocrisy there is in sports.

I was impressed by amount of Sens folks in social media that made it seem like the shot was a total normal thing and wouldn’t have been triggered had it happened against the Sens.

I was impressed by Sportsnet comments by certain analysts calling the goal disrespectful but commending Riely trying to decapitate him while only weeks ago, they were complaining about hits to the heads of young players.

Personally, I loved the clapper but would have hated to see it again my team. That’s exactly why it was awesome. That’s exactly why Sens fans will love Grieg and all other teams will hate him.

I also liked Reilly taking exception. Why wouldn’t he have done that? NHL games are way to vanilla recently. Nice to see some heart back into the battle of Ontario.

That crosscheck represents everything the NHL is trying to ban: cheap shots, head shots and nowhere near a hockey play since the play was over. That, to me, should be a bar setting suspension, something like 8 to 10 games. If it was up to me I'd suspend him 40, that was a friggin criminal infraction as an assault, no justification whatsoever, but I know that wouldn't pass.

As for Keefe, the league just can't accept that comment, he should be fined. Sure, the fines are a joke, but suspension might be pushing it, so that's the best they can do. Along with the fine, I'd make sure he also apologizes for the comment in the media and understands that players just can't be assaulted for scoring an empty net goal.

My son plays hockey, and that's everything I do not want to happen in a game and am quite glad he doesn't have the talent to play with morons like that.

Ken: Thank you so much for your pulling together your blog update. You know how grateful we all are for your efforts in keeping us in the loop.

Ridley Greig, a 21 year old rookie, humiliated the Leafs. Leaf nation has worked themselves into a slow boil that is about to erupt into a ballistic rage. Ridley Greig became an overnight hero in every Canadian market except for one.

The slap shot heard round the NHL will likely trigger an appropriate suspension for the Morgan Reilly response. The length of the suspension is not really all that important.

But, the impending suspension is not the only reason causing so much upset for various Toronto sports media outlets. They are upset because Greig revealed just how fragile, unreliable and soft this Leaf team has become.

The Greig slapper was a brilliant message. It said, "we don't respect you." Now, deal with it. Leaf nation and especially Leaf media have gone into full melt down.

The cross check to the head now represents the full shame of Leaf nation. Clearly, no one will deny, Ridley Greig has hurt their feelings.
- spatso

like wtf.
I get that a team going into its 7th season of missing the playoffs..needs something to grasp on to.

but ..wow are you (frank)ing delusional

I liked the Ridley Grieg slapper as it showed just the hypocrisy there is in sports.

I was impressed by amount of Sens folks in social media that made it seem like the shot was a total normal thing and wouldn’t have been triggered had it happened against the Sens.

I was impressed by Sportsnet comments by certain analysts calling the goal disrespectful but commending Riely trying to decapitate him while only weeks ago, they were complaining about hits to the heads of young players.

Personally, I loved the clapper but would have hated to see it again my team. That’s exactly why it was awesome. That’s exactly why Sens fans will love Grieg and all other teams will hate him.

I also liked Reilly taking exception. Why wouldn’t he have done that? NHL games are way to vanilla recently. Nice to see some heart back into the battle of Ontario.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

good and reasonable post.

If you do something like that Greig did, id expect the other team to respond.. If the leafs did it, Id laugh..but also expect retaliation.

Good to breathe life into the rivalry ..now the Sens need to make the playoffs this decade so we can see another playoff series

There was no reason for Greig to do a full wind-up slapshot for an ENG, that's nothing but a Richard move. So for him to not expect any retlaliation for doing so would just be stupid.

However, you just don't attack a player with a stick to the head, ever. If Reilly came over, grabbed him and started punching him, I'd actually be okay with it. Sends a message to a young player that you don't embarrass a team like that. I have no problem with players policing the game by themselves.

But again, you simply do not use your stick on a player's head, ever. There's really no excusing that. And as a Flyers fan, I wanted Boulerice kicked out of the league for doing to to Kesler, and I wanted Gudas kicked out of the league for chopping Perrault. But since it's Morgan Reilly on the beloved Leafs, he'll likely get 3-5 games and all will be forgiven.

The Reily cross check was excessive but also, when you slow the tape down, there was an element of the stick riding up the shoulder a bit and then hitting the head. While I think Reily had intent to send a message, I don’t think the intent was to hit Grieg in the head. However, you are responsible for what happens even if your full intent wasn’t there.

https://x.com/CanesStats/.../1756719572944584993?s=20

[/img]
So this apparently happened before vs the leafs, I'd totally forgotten about this.

Arguably more egregious, but I dont recall it getting nearly as much news.

There was no reason for Greig to do a full wind-up slapshot for an ENG, that's nothing but a Richard move. So for him to not expect any retlaliation for doing so would just be stupid.

However, you just don't attack a player with a stick to the head, ever. If Reilly came over, grabbed him and started punching him, I'd actually be okay with it. Sends a message to a young player that you don't embarrass a team like that. I have no problem with players policing the game by themselves.

But again, you simply do not use your stick on a player's head, ever. There's really no excusing that. And as a Flyers fan, I wanted Boulerice kicked out of the league for doing to to Kesler, and I wanted Gudas kicked out of the league for chopping Perrault. But since it's Morgan Reilly on the beloved Leafs, he'll likely get 3-5 games and all will be forgiven.
- jmatchett383

This sums up my views on the matter. I also think a lot of fans who don't like what he did would love it if they're pest did something like that.

The Reily cross check was excessive but also, when you slow the tape down, there was an element of the stick riding up the shoulder a bit and then hitting the head. While I think Reily had intent to send a message, I don’t think the intent was to hit Grieg in the head. However, you are responsible for what happens even if your full intent wasn’t there.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Need to be really careful in recognizing that sometimes we are talking about completely different things and using false equivalents.

What Ridley Greig did was disrespectful and it triggered anger on the part of Reilly, his team mates, coaches and many Leaf fans. On the other hand, many Sens fans were pleased with what Greig did because it was so over the top and entirely disrespectful.

What Reilly did was entirely different. It was an assault. And, this is shaky legal territory for the NHL. When a player weaponizes his stick to attack another player, it provokes the kind of assault that will draw the attention of legal authorities. Similar incidents have resulted in criminal charges in the past.

This is the reason why the NHL is so vigilant in policing these kind of stick events. They do not want police authorities stepping up to even question on a possibility of an assault. In order to do this they must be super vigilant in demonstrating a strong discipline even in minor assault situations.

Despite what the fans are saying, the lawyers that run the NHL are saying a message needs to be sent.

Need to be really careful in recognizing that sometimes we are talking about completely different things and using false equivalents.

What Ridley Greig did was disrespectful and it triggered anger on the part of Reilly, his team mates, coaches and many Leaf fans. On the other hand, many Sens fans were pleased with what Greig did because it was so over the top and entirely disrespectful.

What Reilly did was entirely different. It was an assault. And, this is shaky legal territory for the NHL. When a player weaponizes his stick to attack another player, it provokes the kind of assault that will draw the attention of legal authorities. Similar incidents have resulted in criminal charges in the past.

This is the reason why the NHL is so vigilant in policing these kind of stick events. They do not want police authorities stepping to even question for the possibility of an assault. In order to do this they must be super vigilant in demonstrating a strong discipline even in minor assault situations.

Despite what the fans are saying, the lawyers that run the NHL are saying a message needs to be sent.
- spatso

Very well said.

That crosscheck represents everything the NHL is trying to ban: cheap shots, head shots and nowhere near a hockey play since the play was over. That, to me, should be a bar setting suspension, something like 8 to 10 games. If it was up to me I'd suspend him 40, that was a friggin criminal infraction as an assault, no justification whatsoever, but I know that wouldn't pass.

As for Keefe, the league just can't accept that comment, he should be fined. Sure, the fines are a joke, but suspension might be pushing it, so that's the best they can do. Along with the fine, I'd make sure he also apologizes for the comment in the media and understands that players just can't be assaulted for scoring an empty net goal.

My son plays hockey, and that's everything I do not want to happen in a game and am quite glad he doesn't have the talent to play with morons like that.
- YodaOldBoy

I was actually wondering about a significant fine for Keefe as well. As an NHL coach, you really can't be putting something out into the public domain stating that you feel that a blind-sided hit to the head with a stick is in any way, shape, or form "appropriate". As I said in the blog post, Giroux had it right - talk about it being an emotional game, and leave it at that. Nobody is trying to suggest that Greig wasn't stirring the pot, but trying to validate a major stick infraction or even approving it as somehow being a part of the game is pretty dangerous territory. We'll see what the NHL does with Rielly, but 6-8 games would hardly be surprising.

Also, I certainly appreciate the kind words re: writing the blogs. The inconsistency in their posting over the past while is due to a combination of work-stress, a recent stretch of solo-parenting, and having a persistent (non-COVID) respiratory illness the past few weeks. But things are vaguely getting back to normal now, so looking forward to a far more positive second half of the season.

I love how former players/pundits/keefe saying it was justified due to Griegs actions. Saying it is okay to cross check a guy in the head because he hot dogs during/after a goal.

Okay then. Slippery slope for some Leaf players who celebrate a little too hard when they score. t
Let's apply that frontier justice to them and see how that works out.

And just so we are clear...yes, someone on the leafs should have gone after Grieg. A little face wash, run him into the boards, let him know he did something unacceptable, etc.

Cross check to the head, after a play, unsuspecting player...its a suspension. should be 5 games but Reilly doesn't have a history and, you know, its the Leafs.

What was the more unprofessional play, more worthy of revenge, from last night...what Grieg did or the Detroit player doing the Gritty on ice just after the penalty shot on OT?

I think the bigger issue for the Leafs is they are without their best D for a period of time. And they need to win games. Right or wrong actions, Reilly can't take himself out of lineup when they need wins.

Great game from the Sens. On all fronts.
- GrimmdaGoalie

Tell me you haven’t played hockey before without actually uttering the words. If the roles were reversed, Sens fans would be defending the act.

Tell me you haven’t played hockey before without actually uttering the words. If the roles were reversed, Sens fans would be defending the act.
- BernardShakey

Pretty sure they wouldn't. Most fans understand the difference between standing up for your team, and hitting someone in the head with a dirty cross-check after an empty-net goal.

Tell me you haven’t played hockey before without actually uttering the words. If the roles were reversed, Sens fans would be defending the act.
- BernardShakey

As a Flyers fan, I can say that I've called for the lifetime bans of Jesse Boulerice and Radko Gudas for their actions with sticks while members of the Flyers.

You don't use your stick as a weapon on someone's head. Period.

Tell me you haven’t played hockey before without actually uttering the words. If the roles were reversed, Sens fans would be defending the act.
- BernardShakey

Being a fan and being a responsible adult do not need to be mutually exclusive - had the roles been reversed I would absolutely want the league to throw the book at Grieg with a suspension to dissuade him from making that kind of play a habit. It's just gross and dangerous, it doesn't matter what colour of jersey you're wearing.