Last week in the NHL: Matthews calls out Leafs crowd, McDavid suspension draws backlash, blockbuster trade rocks hockey world

Fear not, hockey fans, we have all the good, bad, weird and viral news and stats you may have missed on and off the ice from the past seven days. Let's dive in

(left) Leafs' Auston Matthews answers questions from reporters. (middle) Connor McDavid in a scuffle with Garland. (right) Mikko Rantanen in his Hurricanes uniform
There were certainly no shortage of headlines coming out of the world of hockey this week.(Credit: Steve Russell/Toronto Star, Derek Cain/Getty Images, Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Every week, we'll update you on all the important musings in the hockey world over the past seven days — from the NHL and beyond.

There were plenty of viral happenings around the game last week, including a massive blockbuster trade that seemingly came out of nowhere, Auston Matthews calling out Maple Leafs fans, fallout from Connor McDavid's suspension, a nacho-related controversy, Utah trademark troubles and more.

Here's the top sights, sounds and news you might have missed in hockey last week.

Toronto does not have the reputation of being the loudest building in the NHL, to say the least.

The lack of crowd intensity has been discussed for years by fans, media and opposing players, but rarely has the energy in the building been called out by prominent members of the Maple Leafs.

Auston Matthews put an end to that on Wednesday when he called out the crowd for being "quiet" after Ryan Reaves went toe-to-toe with Blue Jackets tough guy Matthieu Olivier just a minute and a half into the first period.

Toronto lost the game 5-1.

“You love to see [Reeves fighting]. I would’ve liked a little more energy from the crowd after that. I thought it was a little quiet tonight, especially after two guys like that go at it," Matthews said.

Opinion of Matthews' blunt comments were predictably split, with some saying it's a bad look for him to call out his own team's fans like that.

"This makes Auston Matthews look way worse than the fans," one comment on X read.

"People in the stands cannot cause a team to lose on the ice," wrote one fan, while another said, "I’m sure the fans would like a few more playoff wins the last eight years too."

"He should stop worrying about the crowd and worry about the room instead, he was a minus player at the end of the night let’s blame the crowd for that," another reply read.

Plenty, however, agreed with Matthews taking the stance he did as Scotiabank Arena is a notoriously dull place the majority of nights the Leafs take the ice.

"I can't believe people are complaining about his comments. He doesn't control what the seats cost. Great on him for calling out the most disinterested arena in the entire NHL," one fan wrote.

"I don't see the issue with this. He's right and good on him for calling them out," posted another.

"Well, when you price out the REAL fans and make it a corporate lower bowl, what do you expect?" Wrote one user on X, while another posted, "Not real fans, just there for status."

The best hockey player in the world was handed a three-game suspension last week, which prompted debates on how the NHL and its officials protect the game's star players.

Connor McDavid got three games for this cross-check to the head of Connor Garland after the Edmonton Oilers captain and Vancouver Canucks forward got mixed up in the high slot.

It was the second suspension of McDavid's career. He served two games in 2019 for an an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders' Nick Leddy.

Following news of the suspension, the Oilers, along with several of McDavid's prominent teammates, commented on the state of officiating and raising questions about whether the NHL protects its star players enough.

After hearing fan complaints and surely voicing frustration felt throughout the organization, the Oilers released a statement saying they disagree with the suspension — something that doesn't not happen very often at all.

"The Oilers organization is disappointed and we share in our fans' frustration over the three-game suspension of our captain Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans look forward to having him back in the lineup vs. Seattle next week," the team wrote in a statement.

Teammate Leon Draisaitl also voiced his displeasure with how the league treats its most valuable players.

"I guess we don’t overly care about having our best players in the league in the game so I’ll leave it at that," Draisaitl said.

Oilers winger Corey Perry, meanwhile, expressed the same sentiment while detailing how other leagues all protect their stars, but the NHL doesn't seem to want to take the same approach.

"Why aren't we protecting the superstars?" Perry said, via Sportsnet's Mark Spector. "Every other league does it. They protect their superstars. Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James... Go down the list.

"Sure they're going to take extra abuse. They're superstars. Connor knows that and he doesn't b— and complain very often about it, so we'll do it for him."

Fellow generational stars from across the league, like Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who knows all to well what McDavid is going through on a nightly basis, is also siding with McDavid on this one.

"Sometimes, your emotions get the best of you," Crosby told Josh Yohe of The Athletic.

"It's a physical sport. The one time you see that, you probably don't see the nine hits that Connor took. Those ones are the ones that never make the highlights. When you retaliate, you make the highlights."

Former NHL star and current analyst P.K. Subban also chimed in:

McDavid himself, however, appears to be taking the high road — at least publicly.

"It was a little harsh but I understand their decision and [we] gotta move on," McDavid said following news of his suspension.

McDavid was forced to miss games last week against the Capitals, Canucks and Sabres, with the Oilers holding strong and going 2-1 over that stretch without their captain.

No. 97 returns to the lineup Monday at home against Seattle.

A completely out-of-the-blue, massive trade took the hockey world by storm last week when the Colorado Avalanche traded superstar Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

As part of a complex three-way deal, the Canes also added former No. 1-overall pick Taylor Hall to their roster. Colorado received some solid pieces in return, adding forwards Jack Drury and Martin Necas along with a second-round draft pick in 2025 and a fourth-round pick in 2026.

For giving up Hall and retaining 50 per cent of Rantanen's $9.25 million salary this season, Chicago acquired a third-round pick in the 2025 Draft from Carolina.

While many fans and those around the Avalanche organization are in their feelings over this deal, Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon may be feeling it the most.

“Really great friend. Nine years, 10 years together, won a Cup, obviously. It’s just sad,” MacKinnon told reporters on Saturday.

“I mean, I don’t know exactly what happened. I called Mikko pretty shortly after. We talked for close to 20 minutes. But yeah, it’s just unfortunate. Losing a great friend, great teammate. I’m gonna miss him.”

Avalanche general manager called the trade a "business decision" with Rantanen set to become an unrestricted free-agent this summer — and the two sides reportedly still far apart in agreeing on a long-term extension.

Instead of risking losing Rantanen for nothing, Colorado's GM decided to pull the trigger.

"I think it was just a tough business decision here for us," MacFarland said on Saturday. "I felt that the pieces we got made sense to strike now."

This trade was shocking to so many because rarely do you sees star players of this ilk get traded at all, let alone during the season. Rantanen, a two-time 100-point scorer, ranks fifth in goals combined over the past five season, with only Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Auston Mathews and David Pastrnak finding the back of the net more than Rantanen since 2020.

Some quality comic relief was provided during one of those McDavid-less games last week, with Tuesday's Oilers-Capitals contest yielding maybe the most objectively hilarious moment of the season so far.

Early in the third period, the Oilers skated into the Capitals' zone where a plate of nachos was visibly laying on the ice after being tossed by a fan. Draisaitl fed the puck to Perry, who ripped a shot past Thompson as you can see the nachos a few inches from Perry's stick and clearly in Thompson sight lines.

Immediately after the goal, Thompson throw up his arms and pointed at the nachos in disbelief, to no avail as the goal still counted.

The clean-up scenes after the goal were incredible, too.

"I've never seen that before. Obviously, I've got to play to the whistle. That one's on me," joked Thompson after the game following a 30-save win.

Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery also had some great quotes post-game following his goalie's nacho-related drama.

"That's a first," Carbery said. "We just talked about that in the coaches' office. I don't think I've ever seen a nachos-on-the-ice National Hockey League game. Did they save them? Maybe we can bring them into the locker room."

He added:

"I didn't even notice [the nachos], and then guys were yelling, 'There's nachos on the ice!'" Carbery said. "I was like, 'I don't know, can we challenge that?'"

The Utah Hockey Club — the NHL's newest squad — is having a bit of trouble locking down a permanent nickname.

According to KSL's Ryan Miller, The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected the Utah Hockey Club's application for the name Yeti or Yetis, which was viewed by most as the organization's first choice.

The reasons for the decision was "likelihood of confusion" between the NHL squad and popular insulated cup brand "YETI," according to Miller.

Utah was also denied several other nicknames including the Blizzard, Outlaws, Mammoth, Venom and HC names, according to The Athletic's Chris Johnston, who added that the team "has three months from the dates of the refusals to address various concerns and move forward with the trademark process. The Mammoth refusal came in November and the rest in January."

The "Hockey Club" says it still expects to have its new name decided by the start of the team's second season in the league, as they continue to involve the community in the final stages of process.

The Blue Jackets stud with one of the nicest game-winning goals you'll see.

Wait for it:

Absolute absurdity:

This was the scrap Matthews was talking about when calling out the Toronto crowd last Wednesday,

What a banger.