NHL: St. Louis Blues at Toronto Maple Leafs - Source: Imagn
By now, most hockey fans have seen the big hit to the head from Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves to Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse on Saturday night. Nurse left the game injured and will be out for the next 5-10 days, while Reaves earned a five-game suspension, the longest of his NHL career.
The incident took place at 2:41 of the second period, and left Nurse bloodied as he was assisted off the ice by team trainers.
While Oilers players were justifiably upset by the hit on Nurse, one Leafs player is defending his teammate.
Toronto's Bobby McMann believes that Reaves was playing his trademark tough style of hockey and wasn't intentionally trying to hurt Nurse.
"Guys are playing hard," McMann said postgame. "I don’t think he was trying to finish high like that — I know he wasn’t. He’s just playing hard, trying to get through guys, trying to win a hockey game. Sometimes, you clip a guy the wrong way.”
