"Take more beatings now than I did on ice": DoPS senior VP George Parros on the pressure faced from his most recent suspensions

NHL Department of Player Safety senior VP George Parros opened up about the pressures and criticisms he faces when handing down suspensions like the recent five-game ban of Toronto Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly.

"I take more beatings now than I ever did on the ice, I'll tell you that much," George Parros said during an interview with TSN's Gino Reda at the GM meetings in Florida on Tuesday.

The former enforcer spent nine NHL seasons accumulating 1,092 penalty minutes. But since joining the league in a disciplinary role in 2017, the backlash has been relentless.

Parros came under fire after suspending Rielly for cross-checking Ottawa's Ridly Greig. He said:

“It's tough. There's a lot of nuance involved, as you might imagine. Our goal is always consistency. We have a similar process that we follow. We have had players, former players, and people in this department that have been here for a long time that we get consistency from as well."

Parros oversees a 13-person team that reviews videos of every game. He added:

"We track these things all year long an we look at 1,000 clips a year. When something happens on the ice we can recall from either memory or our database that we've collected along the way that allow us to look at similar plays and we try to act and react in a consistent manner."

When handing down Rielly's suspension, Parros' decision was affirmed by Commissioner Gary Bettman after Rielly's unsuccessful appeal.

George Parros shared his take on the GM meeting

George Parros discussed his presentation with TSN's Reda, sharing his thoughts on updating teams about the department’s processes.

“This meeting always serves as a great opportunity for us to have face time with them, get them together and talk on all things encompassing player safety, whatever they may be at the time,” Parros said.

“It's a great opportunity to explain some things we're seeing, kind of where we're at this season in respect to previous seasons, and cover all sorts of different topics. It's a great chance for us to get together on the same page.

Parros has been leading the department for seven years. He assured GMs that the DoPS is committed to ensuring player safety in the NHL.