Leafs’ Brad Treliving cancels press conference as Rielly appeals suspension

Fans were expecting Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving to hold a press conference on Wednesday to discuss the suspension of his defenseman Morgan Rielly. The blue liner was given a five game ban on Tuesday for cross-checking Ottawa Senators’ Ridly Greig in the head on Saturday.

However, it was just confirmed that Treliving will not speak with media and instead, it was announced that Rielly will appeal his suspension. The appeal will be filed directly to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Because the suspension is under six games, Rielly's lone appeal option is to the commissioner as he isn’t eligible to appeal to a neutral arbitrator as the suspension is under six games.

When the suspension was announced by the league, the NHL said that Rielly’s reaction was not a hockey play and added a strike to the head was easily avoidable.

"This is not the case of two players mutually jousting where both players could reasonably expect escalating contact or for both players' sticks to come up high," the narrator of the Department of Player Safety video says in explaining the decision. "This is also not an inadvertent or accidental use of the stick while leveraging for body position or for other hockey purposes. This play occurs well after the goal has been scored, late in the game with the score out of reach and for the sole purpose of retribution."

The incident took place on Saturday night, at the end of the game when Greig fired a slap shot into the empty net and Rielly responded by cross-checking the 21-year-old up high. The Leafs’ defenseman was assessed a match penalty in the final five seconds of a 5-3 loss.

With this suspension, the first of his career, Rielly will forfeit more than $195,312 in salary.

This season, Rielly leads all Leafs defensemen with seven goals and 43 points in 50 games. He also leads the team in average ice time at 24:21.

Recommended articles:

• 3 significant absentees at Leafs’ practice cause peculiar lineup changes
• Maple Leafs get even more bad news after Morgan Rielly's suspension
• Morgan Rielly suspended 5 games for crosscheck on Ridley Greig
• Morgan Rielly suspended by NHL Player Safety
• Evander Kane sounds off on Morgan Rielly's cross check