Canadiens Brendan Gallagher faces major suspension for dirty hit
Last night, in the game between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Islanders, Canadiens' forward Brendan Gallagher was ejected after landing a dirty hit on Adam Pelech.
Brendan Gallagher violently hit Pelech with his elbow, a second after he had gotten rid of the puck. The Habs forward was skating to him and raised his elbow, hitting Pelech's head.
Check it out:
A lot of people reacted to the hit on X since it happened last night.
Gallagher's former teammate, P.K. Subban, shared his opinion in a video:
"I'm seeing this hit, and,
I know Brendan Gallagher's an ex teammate of mine, he's a guy that I played with, but I got to be consistent here. I saw Charlie McAvoy's hit earlier this year, and I said that he deserved five games. And I said, why he shouldn't put himself in that position. He's too valuable to his team. Well, in this case, there's so much going on around the New York Islanders.
I'm hiring Patrick Roy. We're back in Montreal. The game's three nothing and the Islanders put it on. It's a great game, everything is good. And then there's this play where it's not a hockey play, it's not a collision in the corner. It's not a battle for the puck. This is a guy skating the puck through the middle of the ice, and Gallagher throws his elbow right into his chin. Like, I don't know how else I'm supposed to call that, but to me, those are the hits that we just can't have. That's just inexcusable. There's no upside. Five minute major match penalty, intent to injure.
You're putting your team down whether these games matter. And it's just to see a game like this that's been so good to have something like that. Player safety can't be happy with that, so I got to distant, and I have to call it that way, no matter who it is.
And I don't want to see hits like this in the game. And player safety's got to step up."
I know Brendan Gallagher's an ex teammate of mine, he's a guy that I played with, but I got to be consistent here. I saw Charlie McAvoy's hit earlier this year, and I said that he deserved five games. And I said, why he shouldn't put himself in that position. He's too valuable to his team. Well, in this case, there's so much going on around the New York Islanders.
I'm hiring Patrick Roy. We're back in Montreal. The game's three nothing and the Islanders put it on. It's a great game, everything is good. And then there's this play where it's not a hockey play, it's not a collision in the corner. It's not a battle for the puck. This is a guy skating the puck through the middle of the ice, and Gallagher throws his elbow right into his chin. Like, I don't know how else I'm supposed to call that, but to me, those are the hits that we just can't have. That's just inexcusable. There's no upside. Five minute major match penalty, intent to injure.
You're putting your team down whether these games matter. And it's just to see a game like this that's been so good to have something like that. Player safety can't be happy with that, so I got to distant, and I have to call it that way, no matter who it is.
And I don't want to see hits like this in the game. And player safety's got to step up."
"#Habs Brendan Gallagher isn't a dirty player and has never been suspended in his #NHL career; the only time he faced any disciplinary action was when he was fined $2,500 in November 2021 but he'll certainly get a call from the Department of Player Safety tomorrow."
Updates from the NHL's Player Safety Department should be announced later today and we'll keep you up to speed.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 26 | 1150 ANSWERS Canadiens Brendan Gallagher faces major suspension for dirty hit How long do you think Brendan Gallagher should be suspended? | ||
| Three games or less | 189 | 16.4 % |
| Four games | 122 | 10.6 % |
| Five games | 294 | 25.6 % |
| More than five games | 545 | 47.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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