Yahoo Sports Ottawa Senators Forward Ridly Greig: Catalyst of Chaos
With a goal, a controversial interference penalty and a fight, Ridly Greig was at the centre of attention during Tuesday night's 4-3 win in Montreal.
As he met with reporters at the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday morning, Greig's coy smiles and laughs made it clear that he enjoys being a catalyst of chaos, savouring his role as an agitator.
His unique skill set certainly has utility.
Mixing it up and attempting to get under the skin of the opposition is a skill set that Greig embraces.
"I just like playing with an edge," Greig said. "It's just kind of fun to play that way for me, but yeah, there's nothing to it but just playing competitively. I think it helps (bring out the best in me)."
Not only does it bring out the best in Greig, it can be advantageous to his team. It makes the Senators more difficult to play against by shifting the opposition's focus from the game to putting a bullseye on Greig's back. When an opponent is irritated and loses his cool, it creates power play opportunities for the Senators.
As an aside, the preseason is a small sample size of games to analyze, but NaturalStatTrick's data reinforces the principle. Of the players who have played multiple preseason games, Brady Tkachuk and Ridly Greig are ranked first and second in the rate of penalties drawn.)
Toeing that fine line is an art, but Greig acknowledged that last night's actions may have crossed it.
"Yeah, there's definitely a fine line," Greig explained. "I think last night we got a little bit out of hand, but there's definitely a fine line."
Greig cranked up the temperature of last night's game with four and a half minutes left in the first period when he interfered with Kirby Dach.
After a video review for a major penalty, his penalty was reduced to a two-minute minor for interference. To his credit, Greig took ownership of his hit on Dach.
"Yeah, it's pretty easy for a game to get out of hand," Greig said. "Yeah, I mean, obviously talking about the hit. It was definitely a bad read on my part, but yeah, I can understand why they were pissed off.
"I definitely had to keep my head up after that."
Dach would have words for Greig throughout the game, but things came to a boil halfway through the third period when Dach wanted his pound of flesh.
"At the end of the day, it's a two-minute interference call, but they thought it needed more, which is fair. I think I handled myself fine."
At the end of a 90-second shift, Greig engaged in a battle in the corner with Dach, which led to the two dropping the mitts.
"I was saying to the guys, I actually think that was legitimately the most tired I've ever been in my life. It took me a solid 10 minutes to cool off."
It might have taken the Canadiens more than 10 minutes to cool off, but with another exhibition game between the two on Saturday and a regular season tilt in Montreal on October 12th, this rivalry can take itself to another level.
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