Pat Maroon on the defensive after 'man's game' comment
Oilers forward offers a defence on Twitter and then promptly deletes it
A day after the Oilers' overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild, Pat Maroon offered what many considered an ill-advised clarification of comments he made the night before when he said the NHL was a "man's game," and then promptly deleted the tweet.
Pat Maroon deleted this tweet. <a href="https://t.co/uliMr6INxp">pic.twitter.com/uliMr6INxp</a>
—@CMS_74_The Edmonton forward was asked Sunday about the decision made by the NHL to remove Connor McDavid from the game after the Oilers captain smacked his chin on the ice in a collision with Wild defenceman Jared Spurgeon. The call was part of the NHL's stricter concussion protocol allowing spotters to pull players from the game regardless of their willingness to continue.
"This is a man's game," Maroon said after the game. "People are going to get hit, get high-sticked. They're going to go through the middle and get hit. That's part of hockey, and that's why we have all this gear that protects us.
"Yes, if someone gets seriously hurt, we're concerned. But he just fell, got tripped … I just don't get it."
He repeated once more: "It's a man's game."
<a href="https://twitter.com/patmaroon">@patmaroon</a> So if Connor had a concussion, stayed in, got hit harder and ended his season/shortens his career it makes him a real man?
—@davejud8Maroon was quickly slammed for his clarification on Twitter Monday night...
<a href="https://twitter.com/patmaroon">@patmaroon</a> This doesn’t make you look any better.
—@PPPLeafs... and promptly deleted the tweet.