Conor Garland adds oil to the fire with blunt response to being Oilers’ No. 1 enemy

After Saturday’s game in which Oilers captain Connor McDavid cross-checked Vancouver Canucks’ Conor Garland and was consequently suspended three games for his actions, the latter quickly became public enemy number-one in Edmonton.

Ahead of Thursday night’s rematch between the Oilers and Canucks, Garland spoke with the media following today’s practice at Rogers Arena and didn’t shy away from adding oil to the fire, saying he does not care about the extra attention he’s getting.

“I do not care,” said Garland. “I try to just play each and every day and give forth a good effort every day in practice and games.”

Garland went on to say that, unlike McDavid, his actions of holding down the Oilers’ captain to prevent him from scoring in the last minute of play weren’t trying to injure him.

“Whatever happened, happened. I didn’t hurt him, didn’t slew-foot him, or hit him in the head. I guess they’re upset about the hold, but I didn’t try to injure him. Whatever comes with that, comes with that.”

The McDavid / Garland incident is the latest in what has become an entertaining rivalry between the Canucks and Oilers. Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet added to spice things up about this about this seemingly nothing incident has blown up so much:

“Yeah, he held the guy, so is that [worth] wanted posters? I understand if he smashed him in the face or got in a fight or did something. It’s a hold.”

See the clips in the video below:

On Thursday, the Canucks will look to keep the momentum going as they desperately need to string together a few wins, and attempt to get another victory against the Oilers, this time in enemy territory.