VANCOUVER — Apparently, the angry villagers of Denver didn’t march in outrage four years ago when the National Hockey League fined Nathan MacKinnon $5,000 for returning Conor Garland’s helmet by throwing it towards his face during a game.
Back then, in the 56-game pandemic season, Garland was playing for the Arizona Coyotes, badgering opponents with the relentless motivation of someone who was never supposed to play in the NHL and has spent each day of his career making sure that he stays.
The five-foot-nine dynamo had surprised MacKinnon with a reverse hit as the Colorado Avalanche superstar closed on him. MacKinnon and Garland ended up wrestling on the ice.
“He had four points,” Garland told us last spring. “I said to him in the pile: ‘Why are you mad? You’re winning 9-3 and you’ve got four points.’”
Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, at least, had a reason to be mad on Saturday when Garland held him for about 15 of the final 19 seconds as the Vancouver Canucks, now Garland’s team, held on to win 3-2 at Rogers Arena. McDavid had one power-play point.
Apparently blind with rage, McDavid loaded up and delivered with venom a cross-check across the side of Garland’s head, hurting his team by earning a three-game suspension that triggered some of the most comical declarations about injustice that you will ever hear from a fan base or, officially, its team. (And, yes, that’s saying something because we cover the Canucks).
Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet referred Tuesday to some of the reaction in Edmonton, which included an embarrassing statement from the Oilers that the team shares its fans’ frustration and will “support” McDavid through this process, as “grandstanding.”
As the Canucks travel to the frozen dragon’s den to face the McDavid-less Oilers on Thursday, Garland is surely the first outlaw in history to find himself on “Wanted!” posters for holding.
There are worse holds on books at the library.
“I mean, I don’t know,” Tocchet told reporters in Vancouver before flying to Edmonton Wednesday afternoon. “Yeah, he held the guy. So is that wanted posters? I understand if he smashed him in the face or got in a fight or did something. It’s a hold. I don’t really care what they think.
“It’s not going to deter (Garland) to go in the corners and in front of the net. And he needs his teammates to be there right behind him. We need two points. There’s no vengeance; it’s just two points for us.”
The Canucks have barely said a word about the three-game suspension the league also gave Vancouver defenceman Tyler Myers for cross-checking Oiler Evan Bouchard at the end of Saturday’s game, or the tracheotomy that McDavid performed without penalty on Filip Hronek late in the second period.
The Canucks, you may have heard, have other things to worry about.
Rather than using Saturday’s emotional win as the platform to re-launch their troubled season, the Canucks collapsed in the third period Tuesday and lost 3-2 to the lousy Buffalo Sabres. Mired in the drama they’ve created for themselves, the Canucks haven’t won consecutive games since Dec. 1.
Tocchet said Tuesday’s loss was one of the most disappointing in the two years he has been coaching the team.
But this makes the timing and circumstances of Thursday’s rematch in Edmonton perfect for Vancouver. If the Canucks can’t come together and get engaged mentally and physically to battle the Oilers, then there is really no hope for them.
“It should be a fun game, especially with the state of where we’re at right now as a team,” Canucks centre J.T. Miller said. “We know it doesn’t matter if (McDavid is) playing or not, there needs to be a response. It’s more of a character-type of game, I think.
“It’s just about being a team, really. Some of those things are just instincts. We should all have each other’s back. Gars is one of those guys who has stepped up on occasion (for the team), and it’s going to be a spirited game.”
Asked about the toughness of Garland, who didn’t even fall to the ice when pile-driven by McDavid, Miller said: “I’m not going to say anything because I’ll never hear the end of it. But, no, he is tough. He’s scrappy, he holds his ground and does what it takes to win. I’m not going to dive into the situation from last game, but he’s been one of our best players all year.”
But Miller did dive into the situation on Saturday, the first Canuck to react on the ice to McDavid’s crosscheck with two seconds remaining.
“We’ll have each other’s backs and no matter what happens, we stick together,” winger Kiefer Sherwood said. “There’s going to be a little extra passion and emotion. You’ve got to love that as a competitor. Those are the biggest and best games, you know?
“I know they’re all worth two points, but I think every competitor should thrive in those kinds of games where you’ve got to dig in a little bit more. It might have a little bit of a playoff kind of energy or hatred; those are the best games that you’ve got to get up for.”
Garland did his best Wednesday not to further inflame Edmontonians.
“I do not care,” he said of the reaction in oil country. “I just try to play each and every day. . . and give forth a good effort, you know, every day in practice and games.”
The 28-year-old winger has been at the centre of many ice storms. He told Sportsnet a couple of years ago how, as a small, high-scoring American in the Quebec junior league, he would play road games in which opponents were trying to remove his head.
His 129 points with the Moncton Wildcats a decade ago made Garland a fifth-round pick of the Coyotes.
“Well, that was when I was a good player,” he said Wednesday of the physical attention. “I don’t think teams are having meetings about me before games anymore, so it’s a little different. But, you know, whatever happened happened. I didn’t hurt him. I didn’t slew-foot him or hit him in the head. I guess they’re upset about the hold. But, you know, I didn’t try to injure him. Whatever comes with that, comes with that.”
“It’s the game within the game — getting guys off their game,” Sherwood said. “If they’re going to be sensitive and entitled, then all the power to us and we’ll just continue to use that. End of the day, we’re trying to win and they’re trying to win.”
