How is this remotely possible?

[Menzinger]

Regardless of whether this particular issue is the result of the Leafs playing style or something else, it's hardly just Leafs fans who have been critical of things like game management from the refs - a lot of fans aren't particularly happy about it

Im actually surprised the massive spike in the importance of gambling revenues to the sport hasn't led to the league clamping down more on it.

 

[Arzak]

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


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

I don't mind a conspiracy theory, but this is one-stat magic. No other factor was even considered ref didn't give us a penalty = refs hate Leafs.

Never mind that we are playing no-touch hockey, how you even faul someone that stick checks you?

 

[Arzak]

This lady hopes you are right. If the f'n Bruins did not sell their souls to the devil for a solid run at a Cup, I'd like our chances so much more.

View attachment 675576

Sorry this is too funny.

View attachment 675579

Humans on Mars or Leafs winning the Cup?

 

[57 Years No Cup]

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're skilled and fast and soft and they stay on the perimeter, which will get you no calls. Drive to the net aggressively with or without the puck and you will get calls. Simple.

There's no conspiracy here.

 

[Arzak]

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.

Team A had two penalties in a row, team B will get one soon bulsh*t is undeniable and needs to stop.

Anti-Leafs bias is debatable(since you would presume at least the same number of fans as haters..), the parity-loving project is official, and refs got the memo.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

Should we do the unfair tax system next ?

 

[eddieO]

There are a few people here who don't watch other teams play. There is no "leafs bias" with the refs. Leafs just don't play a style that draws a lot of penalties. Pretty evident if you watch the rest of the league.

Also, I agree: this is just people trying to find an excuse if we bomb out of the playoffs again.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

There are a few people here who don't watch other teams play. There is no "leafs bias" with the refs. Leafs just don't play a style that draws a lot of penalties. Pretty evident if you watch the rest of the league.

Also, I agree: this is just people trying to find an excuse if we bomb out of the playoffs again.

What style do the Leafs play and what style draws a lot of penalties? don't just say it's "evident", you should try to support claims like that

 

[Suntouchable13]

I don't think we are a particulary fast team. Matthews, Marner, JT, are not exactly speedsters.

 

[Apotheosis]

Really should not matter in the grand scheme of things but let's be honest; if the Leafs were even in the top half of the NHL in drawn penalties, Marner would be second in scoring in the league and Matthews even in a down year would already have eclipsed 100 points.

 

[Suntouchable13]

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.

Gimme a f***ing break, man. It takes more than just pure skill to make the finals let alone win the cup. And the Leafs certainly are not the most skilled team out there, either. Giant eye roll at your comment, sorry.

 

[AvroArrow]

Gimme a f***ing break, man. It takes more than just pure skill to make the finals let alone win the cup. And the Leafs certainly are not the most skilled team out there, either. Giant eye roll at your comment, sorry.

We very likely would have made it last year, our toughest possible opponent was Tampa in the 1st round and the refs royally f***ed us there.

 

[stats1]

The Leafs had a 3-2 lead after 2 periods in game 6.. leading the series 3-2 and blew it just they have blown it every other chance they’ve had. You can’t blame the refs for being mentally fragile at the most important times. People will bring up the puck penalty on Holl in game 7 but they wouldn’t have had to go game 7 if they just had finished TB off in game 6. 20 mins…. And they couldn’t do it

Pick penalty’

 

[therealkoho]

Having two Canadian teams playing the final round does nothing for the revenues of Comcast, NESN, TNT, and whoever else is a U S rights holder, sure all of Canada would tune in, but 6m viewers a night doesnt pay the dinner bill, and is why you'll probably never see it. They would also lose all the casual bettors, the hard core guys might still be there, but interest drives those tills. The big dick on the block is the US dollar and if you dont think the NHL doesn't take care of the NHL first then I'd say you ain't seeing the big picture.

I can almost bet that MLB has a similar attitude when it comes to the Jays, it hurt the US ratings in both championship years. Canadian viewers and the revenues generated from them didn't touch the shortfalls felt by the league..

 

[Drytoast]

The insecurity of some is off the charts.

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

When the power plays end up being something stupid like 8-1 like it was in game 3 of last year's series...I just want everyone to understand why and be prepared for it.

Paul's go ahead goal had him literally skate by an infraction as Muzzin's stick was SAT ON so he couldn't use it to check Paul. No call. "Let em play, boys!". Don't tell me that either ref missed it, the puck was right beside the infraction. But on the flip side JT's goal is waved off because of a bullshit interference call that happens a million times in hockey, but we were in their zone so it's "call it by the book!"

Holding in Hockey: Penalties for Holding and Holding the Stick

What is holding in ice hockey? And what happens when a player gets a penalty for holding? HockeyMonkey explains in this guide.

www.hockeymonkey.com

"Can you grab another player' stick in hockey?
No, you cannot grab another player’s' stick in hockey. There are allowable times where the defending player can position their free hand to create space or distance themselves, but you cannot grab the opposing player's stick to stop their fair chance at getting a puck, or going into a scoring scenario."


Then we can talk about the phantom Kerfoot high stick and a plethora of other officiating bullshit.

We didn't lose because we were out played. We lost because we didn't get the calls and they did.

We haven't even had a 2 man advantage in our favor yet this season. So ya...prepare for some garbage refereeing again.

 

[ACC1224]

When the power plays end up being something stupid like 8-1 like it was in game 3 of last year's series...I just want everyone to understand why and be prepared for it.

Paul's go ahead goal had him literally skate by an infraction as Muzzin's stick was SAT ON so he couldn't use it to check Paul. No call. "Let em play, boys!".
View attachment 675798Then we can talk about the phantom Kerfoot high stick and a plethora of other officiating bullshit.

We didn't lose because we were out played. We lost because we didn't get the calls and they did.

Not sure what we need to prepare for but the Leafs won game 3 and had more PPs than Tampa.

Kerfoot put himself in a stupid position, everyone realizes that was a legit penalty. The bad call was the first high stick but those things happen.

Blame the refs all you like. I’m sure if you re-watched the series with an unbiased eye you would see some calls go the Leafs way.

 

[Drytoast]

Not sure what we need to prepare for but the Leafs won game 3 and had more PPs than Tampa.

Kerfoot put himself in a stupid position, everyone realizes that was a legit penalty. The bad call was the first high stick but those things happen.

Blame the refs all you like. I’m sure if you re-watched the series with an unbiased eye you would see some calls go the Leafs way.

Game 1 Tampa 0/5 Toronto 1/6
Game 2 Tampa 3/7 Toronto 0/4
Game 3 Tampa 1/3 Toronto 1/5
Game 4 Tampa 1/8 Toronto 1/3
Game 5 Tampa 1/5 Toronto 1/6
Game 6 Tampa 1/3 Toronto 0/1
Game 7 Tampa 0/2 Toronto 0/3

Tampa 33 Toronto 27

Game 4 up 2-1 with a chance to get a 3-1 lead and oh look! Tampa was gifted 8 f'n powerplays! 8! We got a few late in the game but by then they had already potted 7 on us. So it wasn't that they got all the calls. They got all the help when they NEEDED the help. And don't say something stupid like "bro, they only got 1 power play goal!" Our top line barely saw any minutes to get a groove into the game because Matthews doesn't kill penalties and it's hard to get any momentum when you are constantly down 1.

The refs who called game 4? They were fired from officiated the rest of the playoffs! Thanks NHL!

 

[authentic]

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
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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2022
View attachment 675473

How it could be that consistently lopsided for two teams is insanity. I had no clue it was this bad.

 

[ACC1224]

Game 1 Tampa 0/5 Toronto 1/6
Game 2 Tampa 3/7 Toronto 0/4
Game 3 Tampa 1/3 Toronto 1/5
Game 4 Tampa 1/8 Toronto 1/3
Game 5 Tampa 1/5 Toronto 1/6
Game 6 Tampa 1/3 Toronto 0/1
Game 7 Tampa 0/2 Toronto 0/3

Tampa 33 Toronto 27

Game 4 up 2-1 with a chance to get a 3-1 lead and oh look! Tampa was gifted 8 f'n powerplays! 8! We got a few late in the game but by then they had already potted 7 on us. So it wasn't that they got all the calls. They got all the help when they NEEDED the help. And don't say something stupid like "bro, they only got 1 power play goal!" Our top line barely saw any minutes to get a groove into the game because Matthews doesn't kill penalties and it's hard to get any momentum when you are constantly down 1.

The refs who called game 4? They were fired from officiated the rest of the playoffs! Thanks NHL!

No worries there, I never say anything stupid. I’ll leave that to others.

I looked quickly but Matthews had more ev strength ice time in game 4 than game 3.

 

[authentic]

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.

Are you sure about that one?

Where do you think our players score from half the time? JT scores a lot right around the net, Matthews scores a lot of goals pretty close, Marner and Nylander have a ton of goals cutting infront through traffic. Do you even watch Leafs games?

 

[Drytoast]

No worries there, I never say anything stupid. I’ll leave that to others.

Well you were wrong about Toronto getting more power plays in Tampa so we can start with that and work our way out

 

[authentic]

Not sure what we need to prepare for but the Leafs won game 3 and had more PPs than Tampa.

Kerfoot put himself in a stupid position, everyone realizes that was a legit penalty. The bad call was the first high stick but those things happen.

Blame the refs all you like. I’m sure if you re-watched the series with an unbiased eye you would see some calls go the Leafs way.

Both high sticks were bad. They got a phantom 5 on 3 on two high sticks that shouldn't have been called and that led to the tying goal in game 6 when they were 10 minutes away from elimination.

 

[ToneDog]

Game 1 Tampa 0/5 Toronto 1/6
Game 2 Tampa 3/7 Toronto 0/4
Game 3 Tampa 1/3 Toronto 1/5
Game 4 Tampa 1/8 Toronto 1/3
Game 5 Tampa 1/5 Toronto 1/6
Game 6 Tampa 1/3 Toronto 0/1
Game 7 Tampa 0/2 Toronto 0/3

Tampa 33 Toronto 27

Game 4 up 2-1 with a chance to get a 3-1 lead and oh look! Tampa was gifted 8 f'n powerplays! 8! We got a few late in the game but by then they had already potted 7 on us. So it wasn't that they got all the calls. They got all the help when they NEEDED the help. And don't say something stupid like "bro, they only got 1 power play goal!" Our top line barely saw any minutes to get a groove into the game because Matthews doesn't kill penalties and it's hard to get any momentum when you are constantly down 1.

The refs who called game 4? They were fired from officiated the rest of the playoffs! Thanks NHL!

Tampa 7/33 - 21% Toronto 4/28 - 25% (1/10 in losses).

 

[ACC1224]

Well you were wrong about Toronto getting more power plays in Tampa so we can start with that and work our way out

What was wrong?

Both high sticks were bad. They got a phantom 5 on 3 on two high sticks that shouldn't have been called and that led to the tying goal in game 6 when they were 10 minutes away from elimination.

Whatever helps you cope with it, go with that.

 

[Drytoast]

What was wrong?

Toronto didn't have more power plays after all was said and done Tampa had more power plays.

33-27

More broadly speaking your claim that the refs didn't have a bias outcome against the Toronto Maple Leafs because having rewatched that series I can assuredly come to the conclusion that anytime Tampa needed a power play they sure as hell got one.