Most players will be beginning the 2026-27 season later this month or at the beginning of October. However, Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will need to wait a little longer. McAvoy will have to serve a six-game suspension after he swung his stick at Zach Benson's head at the end of Game 6 in the closing minutes, with the Sabres already up 4-1.
Earlier this week, McAvoy once again addressed the play and suspension and seemingly is still surprised by the suspension he was given. "I wanted to go there and try to put my best foot forward, try to explain myself, but obviously I know I did something wrong that I shouldn't have done but the gravity of the penalty and all that stuff was where I was really hoping to explain myself," McAvoy said.
When asked to speak about the penalty itself or why McAvoy did what he did by swinging his stick at Benson's head, he said: "I thought it was extremely dangerous; you're talking about broken legs, broken knees, everything. When you go into the boards at full speed, that in my mind is one of the most dangerous and vulnerable situations you can be in."
Charlie McAvoy's hypocrisy on full display against the Buffalo Sabres
There is no question that those situations are extremely dangerous, but McAvoy himself didn't seem overly concerned about the Sabres' well-being in those situations. A perfect example is earlier in the same period of that game, when Josh Doan beat McAvoy and David Pastrnak to the puck and was able to send it back to the center of the ice for Zach Benson to score a goal, pushing Buffalo's lead to 3-1.
Unfortunately, after Doan made the play, McAvoy threw a forearm into Doan's head and slammed him into the boards.
Here’s another example of McAvoy being the victim….as he throws a blatant hit to the head of Doan and drives his head into the boards pic.twitter.com/zQIcd9tCnN
— Duane Steinel (@DuaneS39) May 3, 2026
Later in the third period, about two minutes before Benson's hit on McAvoy, the Bruins defenseman had Rasmus Dahlin on the ice pulling back on his arm.
These are just examples of McAvoy in this one period of one game, but he had played this way throughout the entire series against the Buffalo Sabres. The idea that it was an isolated incident or that McAvoy somehow can be surprised that he received a six-game suspension is laughable.
It was clear that this was the type of game McAvoy wanted to play, and unfortunately for him, the Sabres got the last laugh. They were the team that got to move on to the next round, and he will now have to sit in the press box for the first six games of the upcoming season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google