I don’t believe Max Domi’s explanation
“I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
Those words are spoken by just about every NHL player who is suspended for injuring an opponent and the Canadiens’ Max Domi is no exception.
“It’s a real tough situation, obviously, for everyone involved,” Domi said after practice Friday in Brossard about being suspended by the NHL for five pre-season games after sucker-punching Florida defenceman Aaron Ekblad in the face during a 5-2 loss to the Panthers Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
“I feel bad about it. It’s not the way I wanted to handle that. It’s an emotional game. Obviously, I’m an emotional player. I’ve known Aaron for a long time. Grew up playing against each other. We always play hard, always battle, whether it was in minor hockey, junior, the national level and now the NHL, too. By no means did I want to hurt him.”
There it is.
Of course Domi wanted to hurt Ekblad ... that’s the idea behind punching someone in the face. Maybe he wasn’t planning to break the defenceman’s nose and leave him on the ice in a pool of blood, but that’s what happened. It wasn’t the debut Domi was hoping for in his first pre-season game with the Canadiens after being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes for Alex Galchenyuk this summer.
Domi, who was held off the scoresheet and was minus-1 in the game, said he was expecting Ekblad to fight him and “wasn’t trying to cheap-shot him by any means,” adding emotions got the best of him and he jumped the gun.
“I feel bad about it and I hope he’s OK,” Domi said. “But, you know what, I’ve got to suffer the consequences of it. It’s unfortunate, but ... I definitely respect the league’s decision.”
Never mind respecting the decision, Domi should take the NHL player safety department out for dinner. It’s basically a slap on the wrist for Domi, who won’t miss any regular-season games or lose any money from his US$3.15-million salary. Adding one regular-season game to the suspension would have cost Domi $38,414 and sent a much stronger message with Domi missing the season opener against the Maple Leafs on Oct. 3 in Toronto. But this is the NHL, where punishment is based more on the result of the action than the action itself, and Ekblad was able to get up and leave the ice with “only” a broken nose.
Forcing Domi to play all five pre-season games might have been more punishment than telling him he doesn’t have to play them. He basically gets a mini-vacation before the start of the regular season and can continue to work on chemistry with his new linemates — Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia — every day in practice. Domi was probably only going to play in three of those exhibition games anyway.
“Being that it’s training camp, you still practise with the boys every day,” Domi said after a scrimmage Friday morning. “There’s lots of time for practice and get lots of reps in and stay in as good shape as possible. Of course I want to be playing, but I’m not. So practice is the secondbest thing. I’m working on my game and just trying to support the guys in any way I can.”
The Canadiens will be back in action Saturday when the Ottawa Senators visit the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio).
In interviews, Domi comes across as an intelligent, wellspoken young man and seems to be well-liked by his new teammates. As a Type 1 diabetic, diagnosed when he was 12, Domi does charity work to help and hopefully inspire young children who have the disease — including attending this summer’s Dskate Toronto hockey camp for boys and girls age 7 to 17 with Type 1 diabetes.
Domi said all the right things Friday morning, except for the part about not trying to hurt Ekblad. Domi obviously lost his cool and did something stupid. Hockey is a physical, emotional game and those things are going to happen but, when they do, the NHL has to send a stronger message than a five-game pre-season suspension.
Not surprisingly, Ekblad wasn’t happy with the suspension.
“It’s kind of a gift ... I don’t want to comment too much on the league’s decision, but I think it’s wrong,” Ekblad, who has sustained at least three concussions during his NHL career, said on the Panthers’ website. “That’s life, though.
“It’s dumb,” Ekblad added. “I think he’s stupid for doing it. In the end, it’s hockey. That’s the way it goes. Scores will get settled at a later date.”
The Canadiens and Panthers will meet during the regular season on Dec. 28 in Florida. If something stupid happens in that game and someone gets hurt, you can bet the assailant will say: “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
But what will the NHL do?