Mark Scheifele said the four-game suspension he received for charging Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Second Round was "excessive," but the Winnipeg Jets forward will not appeal the ruling.
Speaking Friday for the first time since the incident Wednesday, Scheifele expressed concern for Evans and said there was no intent to injure.
"I wasn't expecting that," Scheifele said of the suspension's length. "I was pretty shocked. But that's [the NHL Department of Player Safety's] decision."
"I think, first and foremost, before we can talk about anything, the No. 1 thing is Jake Evans' health. I reached out to a couple of [Canadiens' players] and I hear he's doing well. He didn't have to go to the hospital, which is good news. First and foremost is his health and how he's doing. I pray for a quick and speedy recovery for him, and that he's OK."
Scheifele will begin his suspension with Game 2 on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; USA, CBC, SN, TVAS) and would be eligible to return for Game 6, if it is necessary. If Winnipeg is eliminated before then, Scheifele must serve the remainder of the suspension at the start of the 2021-22 NHL regular season.
Winnipeg trails the best-of-7 series after losing 5-3 to Montreal in Game 1.
Scheifele said he will not appeal the decision to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, which is the right of any player suspended for five or fewer games.
"I don't want to be a distraction to this team," he said. "It's Game 2 [in the second round] of the playoffs tonight, I'm going to accept the punishment. It really wouldn't have done anything anyway, with the way that the rules kind of work with a suspension under six games. I don't have much faith in that. I don't want to be a distraction anymore. This has lingered on long enough."
Jets coach Paul Maurice said he thought the punishment was too harsh.
"But it's set now and that's where the National Hockey League game goes going forward," he said. "And we'll learn from it and move on."
Canadiens captain Shea Weber said, "We're done talking about the hit. They're missing a player, we're missing a player."
The incident occurred at 19:03 of the third period when Scheifele hit Evans, who was circling behind the net to score into the unguarded goal. Scheifele received a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct. Evans was taken off the ice on a stretcher and is out indefinitely with a concussion, although Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said Evans was feeling better Friday.
"My intention on that play is to try to negate a goal," Scheifele said. "There's no intent, there's no malice there. I don't go in with a frame of mind of injuring a hockey player. My record precedes itself. I think I've had not one charging penalty in 600 games. My thought process there is to cut him off at that post.
"I keep on going back to my record. I think I've had 12 penalty minutes this year. I've had one boarding penalty in my entire 600-game career, I haven't had a charging penalty. So my intention is not to injure or to make a hit, but to prevent a goal. That's what my entire life is, that's my job to keep pucks out of the net and score. That's why I'm out there on 6-on-5, to prevent a goal and go back the other way and score. So I think it's excessive but you know, what can you do? The NHL has their own opinion."
Scheifele is tied for the Jets lead with five points (two goals, three assists) this postseason. He led Winnipeg in the regular season with 63 points (21 goals, 42 assists) in 56 games, the sixth straight season he scored at least 21 goals and 60 points.
Although Scheifele said he will accept his punishment, he spoke out against the hateful communication directed toward his family in the wake of the incident.
"I [couldn't] care less about people saying things about me," he said. "I'm a big boy, I can handle it. I signed up for this. That's what you put yourself in this situation for. The media scrutiny, whatever that is, I can handle that. But to put my parents, my brother and sister, my loved ones, through that is completely unacceptable."
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