How is this remotely possible?

[Drytoast]

I'm not one into conspiracy theories but really? With our forwards who are skilled and fast and this is the result? Bottom 3rd in penalties drawn...dead last for one year during one of the most skilled era's of this team's history.

This stinks to high heaven.

Click to read more...

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Refs don’t want to call penalties for Toronto because they don’t want to seem biased. Also a good chance a not insignificant number of refs dislike the Leafs franchise. Some people will say that the Leafs don’t take a lot of penalties so they don’t draw a lot of penalties but that’s garbage. The Leafs have ranked in or near the top half of the league for penalties taken in half the seasons Matthews has been here.

[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]Year[/TD]
[TD]PP Time Rank[/TD]
[TD]PK Time Rank[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2016-17[/TD]
[TD]21st[/TD]
[TD]12th[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2017-18[/TD]
[TD]31st[/TD]
[TD]21st[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2018-19[/TD]
[TD]29th[/TD]
[TD]30th[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2019-20[/TD]
[TD]26th[/TD]
[TD]24th[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2020-21[/TD]
[TD]25th[/TD]
[TD]28th[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2021-22[/TD]
[TD]29th[/TD]
[TD]14th[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2022-23[/TD]
[TD]25th[/TD]
[TD]15th[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

If the amount of powerplays and penalties were evenly called, those ranks the last two seasons especially should be a lot closer than they are.

 

[Drytoast]

Looking at the stats, it would appear that Tampa Bay and Florida are the darlings of the NHL. Great. Another f***ing series decided by the bias refereeing.

What happens when a team that averages league bottom in powerplay opportunities faces off against one that consistently is near the top in power play opportunities. And watching their BLATANT infractions not being called last year in the playoffs, we are in for another treat of bias NHL refereeing.

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

 

[Clyde Brewer]

I know we're always the victims, and the refs always have it out for us, but I do think there are other contributing factors.

Chippy players draw a lot of penalties.

Maybe we don't have many chippy players. Kadi used to draw a lot of penalties. Bunting draws some too. However, the Leafs play fairly vanilla hockey in this regard.

I'm sure if Willy or Mitch started to provoke their opponents more we'd see more PP time.

 

[HolyCrap]

There is without a doubt the DOPS bias against the Leafs this is common knowledge at this point. I wouldn’t put it past the officiating being slightly bias but there may be other contributing factors as well.

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

If the officials called the game as it states in the rulebook I have no doubt this team would have one or two finals appearances by now.

 

[TML Dynasty]

Game management needs to go. Illl also never understand the difference in rule’s between playoffs and reg season. Pick the one u like best and call it that way all year.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

If the officials called the game as it states in the rulebook I have no doubt this team would have one or two finals appearances by now.

If they did that half the game would be on the PP.

As somebody that remembers 05-06, you think you want that but you don't.

 

[Drytoast]

I know we're always the victims, and the refs always have it out for us, but I do think there are other contributing factors.

Chippy players draw a lot of penalties.

Maybe we don't have many chippy players. Kadi used to draw a lot of penalties. Bunting draws some too. However, the Leafs play fairly vanilla hockey in this regard.

I'm sure if Willy or Mitch started to provoke their opponents more we'd see more PP time.

Skilled players draw penalties as they are usually interfered with the most. The refs stopped calling penalties for kadri and bunting.

Matthews and Marner should be drawing they most as the force opposing players to hook, hold, slash and interfere with.

 

[ACC1224]

Doesn’t really seem that surprising nor that big a deal.

 

[Clyde Brewer]

Skilled players draw penalties as they are usually interfered with the most

It's not that simple. There's no direct correlation between a players skill and the penalties taken against them.


From this article:

Maple Leafs: A Look Into Who Draws Penalties Embarrasses the NHL

Maple Leafs: A Look Into Who Draws Penalties Embarrasses the NHL. Four of the NHL's dirtiest players lead the league in penalties drawn.

editorinleaf.com

Refer to this list:

"A clue as to how the NHL calls penalties can be seen by looking at who has drawn the most penalties over the last three years. These numbers are for all-situations. It makes sense to see McDavid ranked 3rd, but look who else draws the most penalties:"

1. Brady Tkachuk,
2. Matt Tkachuk,
3. Connor McDavid
4. Brad Marchand,
5. Tom Wilson,
6. Brendan Lemieux,
7. Nazem Kadri.

Furthermore, the article goes on to say:

"That’s right, six of the NHL’s top seven players at drawing penalties over the last 3 seasons are the six dirtiest players in the league."

 

[AvroArrow]

This started exactly 1 month into the first season Tavares came here, I remember this shit perfectly and it has infuriated me ever since.

We had a near 40% PP at the time, the media was raving about how good Torontos PP is with all the skill. We were absolutely annihilating teams, we had the highest penalties drawn at that point. Obviously with the skill/speed it wasn't a surprise. Early November of that same season, the media at the same time began discussing how dominant the Leafs PP was and that it's just running through teams. Kadri had the most penalties drawn, it was discussed heavily.

Coincidentally after that, our penalties drawn immediately dropped. Like i'm not kidding when I say immediately, legit the very next game. And teams were abusing our guys, hooks/trips/slashes etc. anything and nothing was being called. Especially against Kadri. Ever since November of Tavares' first season here it's been that way.

Flashback to last year. Bunting was among the leagues top players in penalties drawn. It was being discussed heavily by the media. Immediately the very next game he didn't get any more calls. We watch this guy get abused on a nightly basis, just last game the guy was bear hugging him literally 1 foot away from the ref behind the net and no call.

If someone can go pull up the stats for our PP percent and penalties drawn in October of 2018-19, and then the penalties drawn after that point I am positive the numbers will back up my post.

 

[Jmo89]

The biggest issue is consistency. Call both teams the same way. Just one of many examples: when you call a phantom high stick in a game 6 which immediately leads to a 5 on 3 (and tie game), then refuse to call Killorn practically gliding around the ice while holding onto Matthews jersey in OT.

Cal Foote embellishing a call gets more respect from the refs than the Hart and Lindsay winner getting intentionally held and interfered with.

 

[Dekes For Days]

There are a number of reasons this happens.
Biggest of all is that NHL officiating is literally designed to be corrupt and incompetent. Game management is prioritized over calling a fair game and protecting the players, in order to manufacture parity. And each rule in the rulebook is applied to a different extent. We also don't dive, and anybody that is good at drawing penalties is immediately targeted by the media and they become the exact opposite, where anybody can abuse them in any way without consequence. Because of the culture in the NHL, hired refs tend to either already have pre-existing biases against Toronto, or are so scared of being perceived as biased in favour of Toronto in a big spotlight that they end up biased against Toronto. We're also not a market that needs to win to feed the NHL money, and we're not one of the areas that's trying to be grown, so we're not ever one of those teams that gets targeted to be propped up.

And nothing can ever be done about this undeniably broken system, because the NHL executives and owners don't care and just want their money, the media doesn't see the fight as worth it as it doesn't drive viewership and just questions the integrity of the product they paid a lot for, and anybody else that calls it out in the slightest way gets massively fined and shut down, or labeled a whiner making excuses.

 

[DarkKnight]

Can anyone do taking penalties to compare how we sit, might help decide if there is a net bias one way or the other.

 

[ACC1224]

The insecurity of some is off the charts.

Sounds like were prepping the excuses early in case of a first round loss.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Since Austin Matthews joined the Leafs for the 2016-17 season, Toronto has been shorthanded 1,470 times, and has been on the PP 1,470 times.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Sounds like were prepping the excuses early in case of a first round loss.

The above is a great example of the attitude that permeates the hockey community, that perpetuates this broken system.
Fans can't say anything without responses like this, reenacting the everything-is-fine meme.
Sports media can't say anything without jeopardizing their investment/revenue.
People in the game can't say anything without paying massive fines.
So the quality of hockey in the biggest hockey league in the world continues to suffer.

 

[Arzak]

View attachment 675441

I'm not one into conspiracy theories but really? With our forwards who are skilled and fast and this is the result? Bottom 3rd in penalties drawn...dead last for one year during one of the most skilled era's of this team's history.

This stinks to high heaven.

They are not playing in those "dirty" areas around the net or fighting for pucks down low where you can actualy draw a penalty.

No playoff success, and no penalty time.. It's Bettmen's conspiracy and we need thread. Thank you

 

[Nineteen67]

I think it’s because they are not a physical team and they handle the puck more on the outside. You don’t see an over abundance of missed calls against the Leafs.

 

[GoonieFace]

To All the ref whiners and conspiracy theorists, do you have a club hidden behind a secrets bookcase, with decorative fire and torches?

The above is a great example of the attitude that permeates the hockey community, that perpetuates this broken system.
Fans can't say anything without responses like this, reenacting the everything-is-fine meme.
Sports media can't say anything without jeopardizing their investment/revenue.
People in the game can't say anything without paying massive fines.
So the quality of hockey in the biggest hockey league in the world continues to suffer.

And people like you that find any excuse why the leafs can’t win in the playoffs, it takes all kinds

 

[Nineteen67]

The biggest issue is consistency. Call both teams the same way. Just one of many examples: when you call a phantom high stick in a game 6 which immediately leads to a 5 on 3 (and tie game), then refuse to call Killorn practically gliding around the ice while holding onto Matthews jersey in OT.

Cal Foote embellishing a call gets more respect from the refs than the Hart and Lindsay winner getting intentionally held and interfered with.

You don’t go the SCF three straight years without hockey sense. I’ve seen Tampa embellished high sticks again this year. If the Leafs are smart they’ll point that out to both the NHL and the media.

 

[Dayjobdave]

I don’t think there is a conspiracy against the Leafs, but anti Leaf bias is real. We see it on this board, we see it in that jerk who roots for “whoever the Leafs are playing”, we see it in our owner network employing the one guy in the history of the league to declare before the draft he wouldn’t play for the Leafs, we even see it in the Biden Leaf joke. All in good fun they say, but there’s a bias.

That being said, the team needs to play on the inside and stop yelling at the refs.

 

[Dekes For Days]

And people like you that find any excuse why the leafs can’t win in the playoffs

Wrong again. Nobody's even talking about the Leaf's past playoff outcomes except you. We're talking about the broken officiating and DOPS system.
Keep ignoring the facts and convincing yourself that everything's fine in a burning house if you want though.

 

[crump]

How are we supposed to get a break with both Biden and Jeremy Jacobs against us.