Sports
Duhatschek: Carson Soucy's cross-check to Connor McDavid's face was reckless. What will the NHL do?
So, for most of Sunday night’s game between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers, there were two parallel narratives — one on the ice, one on social media.
On the ice: How Vancouver was badly winning the goalie battle, rookie Arturs Silovs, playing exceptionally well (and much better than his Oilers counterpart Stuart Skinner). Silovs stopped 41 of 44 shots. He was the absolute difference maker in a 4-3 Vancouver win, which gave the Canucks a 2-1 series lead in the NHL’s Western Conference semifinal.
On social media: How referee bias was working against the Oilers, who were not getting their fair share of the calls, from the refereeing tandem of Chris Rooney and Graham Skilliter.
But in the end, the dirtiest play of the night came once the final whistle had blown; and Silovs had made one final stop to win the game in regulation.
Connor McDavid was behind the net, jousting with Carson Soucy. Soucy cross-checked McDavid, and McDavid slashed him back on the pants. It wasn’t much — or until Soucy’s defence partner, Nikita Zadorov joined the fray. As Zadorov cross-checked McDavid from behind, causing his knees to buckle, Soucy cross-checked him in the throat.
Carson Soucy catches McDavid with a cross-check after the final buzzer 😳 pic.twitter.com/Gf03SqgE0l
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 13, 2024
That hit definitely crossed the line.
Yes, playoff hockey is intense. Yes, teams generally can’t leave well enough alone once the final whistle blows because these are best-of-seven series, and once Game 3 is over, the posturing for Game 4 begins.
The Canucks will be lucky, however, if they get to Game 4, with Soucy in the lineup.
A cross-check to the face, like the one he delivered, took punishment to another level. In the end, Soucy did get a minor penalty assessed at the buzzer, which is completely inconsequential if the NHL doesn’t follow up with supplementary discipline.
NHL playoff hockey is of course a different animal than the regular season. Some players are just built for it — Zadorov is a case in point. Zadorov — acquired from the Calgary Flames in a trade earlier this season — was added because of his size and willingness to play a physical game. At times, his regular-season play was erratic. But in the playoffs, and especially in this series against the Oilers, he’s been a powerful, intimidating force.
At one point in Sunday’s game, he finished a check on Evander Kane, which knocked Kane into the Edmonton player bench. Not content with simply driving Kane right off the ice surface, Zadorov followed up with two more pushes to ensure he stayed there. That earned him a roughing penalty. Still, it didn’t end up costing the Canucks a thing because the Oilers were themselves dinged for a bench minor, for retaliating from the bench.
The Canucks acquired Zadorov just for these playoff moments — he understands that in playoff hockey, someone needs to play the role of the villain for Vancouver, because if no one does, then the McDavids and Leon Draisaitls will eventually make you pay.
Zadorov can also be crafty about it. Presumably, he understood his blindside postgame cross-check to McDavid was just borderline enough to escape further NHL justice. So thinking strategically.
Soucy, on the other hand, got carried away with the last response. You just can’t cross-check someone across the throat, at any moment in time. The NHL’s player safety department has been eerily quiet thus far in these playoffs, even as officiating controversies rage from game to game and series to series.
The fact that it was McDavid on the receiving end of that double-barreled cross-check adds further fuel to the fire. Remember, less than three years ago, a popular narrative was how McDavid couldn’t get a break from the NHL referees — that statistically, he drew very few penalties, considering his skill level, his ice time and his production.
The controversy came to a head in November of 2021, at a time when McDavid was second in the league in scoring but only 57th when it came to drawing penalties. And this after he’d gone an entire playoff the year before without drawing a penalty call — unimaginable really, considering the way he plays.
When McDavid commented on that finally, he was called out by none other than John Tortorella, who was then between coaching jobs, working as a broadcaster for ESPN. Tortorella advised him to “honestly, just shut up. Stop talking about it.”
It almost seemed as if McDavid, because he had an overdrive that mere mortals couldn’t match, took more punishment than warranted because he was so good.
In time, the moment passed, and the controversy faded.
There is sometimes a perception that the NHL goes out of its way not to protect elite players, because it might show favoritism. This of course is nonsense. Players only ever want one thing from the referees — consistency, as much as possible, from shift to shift and period to period and game to game.
In other words, the same treatment for journeyman players as for the stars of the game. But consistency has to cut both ways too. You can’t ignore what happened here, just because this was McDavid, getting manhandled. What Soucy did was reckless and dangerous. A suspension almost certainly has to be coming. If not, what is already a rowdy Oilers-Canucks series has a real chance of descending into real mayhem.
(Photo: Paul Swanson / NHLI via Getty Images)
Sports
Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza wins 2025 Heisman Trophy
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Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the first Hoosier to win the coveted Heisman Trophy, college football’s most prestigious award.
Mendoza claimed 2,392 first-place votes, beating Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 votes), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 votes) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 votes).
Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, throwing for 2,980 yards and a nation-best 33 touchdown passes while also running for six scores.
Indiana, the last unbeaten team in major college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza runs off the field after a game against Wisconsin Nov. 15, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last season’s surprise run to the CFP.
A redshirt junior, the once lightly recruited Miami native is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. The trophy was established in 1935.
NO 2 INDIANA CAPS OFF COMEBACK WIN OVER PENN STATE WITH SENSATIONAL TOUCHDOWN, KEEPS UNDEFEATED SEASON ALIVE
Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top 10 finish in Heisman balloting, and it marks another first in program history. It now has had players in the top 10 of Heisman voting in back-to-back years. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year.
Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years. Travis Hunter of Colorado, who played wide receiver and cornerback, won last season.
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Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza throws before a game against Wisconsin Nov. 15, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Mendoza was named The Associated Press Player of the Year earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards Friday night while Love won the Doak Walker Award.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
Prep talk: The Shaws enjoy a memorable basketball moment at Oak Park
Sometimes it can be difficult when a high school coach also has his son on the team, but then there are those unforgettable moments that make every second spent together magical. Such a moment happened on Friday night for Oak Park basketball coach Aaron Shaw and his son, sophomore guard Grant Shaw.
Grant made a three-pointer from beyond the top of the key as the buzzer sounded to give host Oak Park a 54-51 win over rival Agoura.
Then, for some unknown reason at the time, Grant ran in the opposite direction, followed by his teammates and delirious Oak Park fans. There were so many people celebrating he ended up pushed into the gym foyer.
Watching from the bench was his father, who didn’t understand why his son was headed out of the gym. “The coaches were asking, ‘Where is he going?’” he said.
It turns out the surge of people celebrating forced Grant into the foyer. His father reminded him afterward to perhaps next time stay in the gym.
But make no mistake about, Aaron has won two Southern Section titles as a coach, and this moment ranks up among the best.
“Proud dad moment,” he said.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
Navy tops Army with late touchdown as Trump’s attendance in Baltimore sparks protests
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For the second year in a row, the Navy Midshipmen have won the Commander-in-Chief Trophy.
The Midshipmen earned a gutsy 17-16 victory over Army in one of the greatest rivalries in sports.
Navy got out to a scorching-hot start, as they scored a touchdown on their first drive, with Blake Horvath rushing for 45 of the 75 yards on the drive and running in for the score. He also had an 11-yard pass.
President Donald Trump greets players after the coin toss and before the start of the 126th Army-Navy Game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen at M&T Bank Stadium, Saturday, in Baltimore, Md. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Army, though, answered right back with an identical drive, going 13 plays for 75 yards — this one ended with Cale Hellums punching one in.
Navy’s offense was stalled for a long while after, as their next three drives ended in a punt, fumble, and interception. In the meantime, the Black Knights were able to tack on three more field goals to go up, 16-7. Late in the third, the Midshipmen finally added more points on the scoreboard with a field goal that cut their deficit to three.
Early in the fourth, Navy forced an Army interception. Navy had the ball at the goal line but fumbled on a quarterback sneak, losing seven yards. Horvath hit Eli Heidenrich in the end zone, though, and the ensuing kick gave the Midshipmen their first lead since the first drive of the game.
Navy promptly forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with less than five minutes to go. Navy lost a fumble when trying for a first down that would have iced the game, but the play was reviewed, and the call was reversed. Thus, Navy had a fourth-and-1 and kept the offense on the field. They got the first down that iced the game.
US President Donald Trump tosses a coin before the college football game between the US Army and Navy in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 13, 2025. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images)
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With the win, Navy earned the Commander-in-Chief trophy by also defeating Air Force earlier in the year.
The game was its usual old-school ground-and-pound style of football, as there were only 24 pass attempts compared to 86 runs.
President Donald Trump attended the game for the seventh time, and his second in as many years since being elected again. Trump participated in the coin flip, but not before protesters wielded lewd signs opposing Trump on the street leading up to the stadium.
Protests were expected for the game in the blue city, as Trump has suggested sending the National Guard to Baltimore to help address the city’s rampant crime. Baltimore consistently ranks among U.S. cities with high crime rates, often appearing in the top 5 for violent crimes, especially homicides and robberies.
U.S. President Donald Trump (2nd-L) walks onto the field for the 126th Army-Navy Game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen on Dec. 13, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. The teams are competing for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, with President Trump attending the rivalry for the second consecutive year. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
The protests against Trump also come on the same day that officials said two U.S. Army soldiers and a U.S. interpreter were killed in an ambush attack in Syria.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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