Colorado Avalanche Nathan MacKinnon was at the forefront of controversy following the unfortunate incident involving Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram on Tuesday night.
The facts of the case are well known.
What’s encouraging is the fact that the NHL came to its senses on Thursday. Instead of suspending MacKinnon, as, frankly, I was expecting, the NHL did the right thing for once. The league rescinded the major penalty issued to MacKinnon.
While striking the penalty ex post facto will not change the fact that the Avalanche played without MacKinnon in that game against the Oilers, it’s the right call for two reasons.
First, it offers vindication. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was the most vocal in defending MacKinnon. If anything, Bednar pinned the blame on Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse for pushing MacKinnon into Ingram.
While the penalty call was fine, it was by no means a major one. A two-minute minor would have sufficed. That was the argument, and it was one that the league eventually accepted.
Secondly, striking the major penalty is an important administrative issue. Players automatically receive a one-game suspension when they accrue two major penalties within a specific time frame.
A good example of that happened earlier this season with former Avalanche Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen got two major penalties and game misconducts a couple of games apart. That triggered the one-game suspension rule.
It’s worth pointing out that one of Rantanen’s egregious transgressions knocked New York Islanders’ defenseman Alexander Romanov out for the season.
That was not the case on Tuesday night. While Ingram was visibly shaken up, MacKinnon did not end the Oilers' goalie’s season.
For all the times the NHL has come under fire for unfairly suspending players, it’s nice to see that the league is willing to right a wrong and clear a player of wrongdoing.