Perhaps, just perhaps IF the ref's had bothered to call cross checking, you know, like they said they would at the beginning of the season, there would not be a holiday imposed on Mathews.
Just take a listen to McDavid this year and last, complaining about the abuse he faces nightly and a lack of calls to get an idea where the level of frustration faced by skilled players is derived from...
Yes he deserves the suspension, but the league needs to start calling infractions they have established as fouls, or this type of response will continue to grow.
Fishheadjoe
In theory, perhaps. But in a real game, the standards for calling penalties are different, depending on where the players are on the ice, who has possession of the puck, and other circumstances.
If a player gets cross checked in the center ice zone, then that's called every time. Same thing for a hit from behind next to the boards or for a cross check in the offensive zone when your team has the puck.
The standards are relaxed a bit when you're in your defensive zone, and every player who plays any kind of league hockey knows this.
The area immediately in front of the net is prime real estate and the defense isn't going to simply let you camp out there permanently and
cherry pick all the rebounds and deflections.
Like it or not, the reality of practical gameplay dictates that the standards in front of the net for calling penalties are different for the offensive and defensive players. A certain amount of shoving, slashing, whacking, and cross checking against the offensive player is not just tolerated, but expected. That's not the case going the other direction. The defense always gets more latitude.
To those who don't have hockey playing experience, this might seem grossly unfair, but the game has evolved this way for a good reason - it's makes for bad hockey if players can expect to camp out in front of the net and cherry pick goals with impunity.
The imbalance of power exists to force the offence to use more passing and skating skills to score goals, as opposed to having someone lurking right in front of the net just waiting to scoop up any loose change.
