Justin Bieber weighs in on Morgan Rielly cross check controversy

On Saturday night, an incident in the Leafs and Senators game set the hockey world on fire now for multiple days. Senators forward Ridly Greig scored a cocky empty net goal to secure the win, and Morgan Rielly took exception to the showboating and delivered a cross check to his face.

The play has got every hockey fan talking about the code and who was in the right and wrong - where now even pop star Justin Bieber have his opinion on the play. Of course as a Leafs fan, Bieber supported Rielly with a statement saying «Atta Boy Rielly» on Instagram.




The entire play has sparked a debate around «the code» in hockey. Rielly's cross-check was unnecessarily and excessively violent, but a response was clearly warranted to a clear taunt and unsportsmanlike, disrespectful move from Greig. Especially now that Greig wasn't injured by the play, and the Leafs will likely miss Rielly for 6 games or more, the punishment from NHL Player Safety doesn't feel like justice in this situation.

Several members of the Leafs including Ryan Reaves and Sheldon Keefe have come out and strongly supported Rielly's side, and even some players on the Senators like Claude Giroux seemed to agree that it was an appropriate response from Rielly. In the end, this entire controversy and saga comes down to differences in hockey philosophy: about whether the old physical style of play has a place now where the game is much more skilled.