Colorado Avalanche
NHL statement on Nathan MacKinnon slashing incident involving linesman
The NHL just released the following statement on the slashing incident involving Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon and lineseman Michel Cormier in yesterday’s game in Boston. To sum it up: He’s off the hook.
NHL Hockey Operations statement on the incident in last night’s game between the @Avalanche and @NHLBruins. pic.twitter.com/fZvtw6MiZd
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 22, 2022
As I guessed last night, nothing would come of it. There are some outraged pundits out there who believe MacKinnon is getting special treatment. MacKinnon didn’t like how he was roughed up some by Bruins center Tomas Nosek, and the league accepted that the slash was intended for Nosek – not Cormier.
MacKinnon was probably pretty fortunate here, as the NHL release does say Cormier, was physically struck by the stick – and players have to be responsible for their sticks, no matter how accidental something is. There was some debate about whether Cormier was actually struck by the stick, but the NHL says it did happen.
Here is the incident again:
Did Nathan Mackinnon slash the linesy?!?? pic.twitter.com/W6qKlvhlx8
— World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) February 21, 2022