Oilers' Mattias Ekholm makes his thoughts extremely clear on Jack Eichel' no-call hit that slammed him into the boards

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Dec 15, 2024 11:46 GMT

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Edmonton Oilers' Mattias Ekholm made it clear he was not happy with the no-call after Jack Eichel’s cross-check during Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.

With just over three minutes left in the second period, Eichel pushed Ekholm into the boards as both players chased the puck. Ekholm was forced into the boards, with his helmet hitting first. The play was dangerous, and Ekholm felt it should have been a penalty.

After the hit, Ekholm confronted referee Francis Charron. The ref explained he didn’t think the cross-check was forceful enough to draw a penalty.

Ekholm disagreed, saying:

“It’s pretty self-explanatory. But the explanation I got from him was he didn’t think the cross-check was that forceful. Obviously, I think it’s a penalty. If I were to do that to somebody and get two minutes I wouldn’t say a word about it.”

Mattias Ekholm added that the force of the cross-check didn’t matter as much as the result. He said:

“You’re in a vulnerable position. When you cross-check somebody it doesn’t matter how hard it is. It’s the end-result that matters. Going headfirst into the boards isn’t very comfortable.”

Despite the missed penalty, Ekholm didn’t hold a grudge against the officials.

“I’ve had Francis for a long time and I respect him, but he missed the call. That’s going to happen. Thankfully I’m all good. I have my opinion and he has his,” he said.

The Oilers won the game 6-3, which helped ease his frustration. Ekholm focused on the team’s victory, but he was still upset that the dangerous play went unpunished.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch also spoke about the hit. He said it was a tough moment to watch but acknowledged the referee’s decision.

“It’s tough. It wasn’t hard, but he gives him a push from behind and he goes in very awkwardly and I didn’t like it,” Knoblauch said (via edmontonjournal.com). “It was not a penalty, that was the explanation I got.”

Despite the no-call, Mattias Ekholm and the Oilers stayed focused on the win.

Fans react to Jack Eichel's hit on Mattias Ekholm

Clips of Jack Eichel and Mattias Ekholm's incident immediately started circulating on X. Several fans shared their opinion and they were particularly upset about the referees not penalizing Eichel for the hit. Major injury could've weakened the Edmonton Oilers' playoff hopes.

"They should get stricter about slamming someone into the boards from behind. But this should have been a penalty regardless." One fan said.

"Eichel is a dangerous player… and not in a good way…" Another said.

"Completely dangerous cross check, should’ve been 5" A fan wrote.

"Clean hit" another fan added.

"If that’s any player on any other team it’s a 5 and a game," a user wrote.

"It was a pretty soft cross check, definitely should have been a penalty but I think Ekholm sold it a bit too! That’s all I’ll say tho, it was a weird no call oilers deserved that win!" Another fan wrote.

The Oilers will play against the Florida Panthers on Monday.