Spezza: the appeal didnt think so but nice try. Spezza was a first time offender that cant be 6 games.
Matthews: there were multiple cross checks just as bad that didnt get nearly as much. the qualm leaf nation had was the media running to mom and dad right away and then gaslighting us on how the NHL got it right only to shut up all the other times about it. Matthews himself alluded to the lack of transparency in the process saying he felt like his bed was already made.
Hell Jonatan Bergen got a fine for a cross check that was even WORSE against the leafs this year, if like you said Matthews deserved what he got then why didn't Berggren, why did he only receive a fine for this?
Bunting: you're making excuses for DOPS people talking about stuff should not factor into decisions.
Kadri: did he deserve record breaking suspensions never before seen? All because Debrusk acted like he died and then came back? or what about the officials losing control and letting debrusk get away with kneeing? we're giving Kadri the gate for the whole playoffs but we can't give Okposo even a fine for this:
my point on the scrum was that it was a penalty against Carlo and should have been blown dead but for some reason it wasnt? Toronto had possession by default when the puck is played with the broken stick in fact florida never touches that puck they push the goalies glove into the net for the goal....also by default the referee is supposed to blow the whistle when they have lost sight of the puck.
There's pretty straightforward photos showing the referee watching Rodrigues launch himself into tavares but I guess he wasnt actually the game like his job dictates but rather had his hand up his ass and was too busy with that.
I'll concede to your point that the DoPs is fair with the leafs when you can address why Berggren got a fine but matthews got a suspension, why Meier only got one game for a retaliatory cross check to the head of a predator while matthews got two games? Why Kadri got the whole playoffs while Okposo didn't get a call (if I remember correctly playoffs is worth half of the regular season)
Have you read the Spezza appeal decision? The NHLPA contended that the knee was not retribution, but the decision doesn't agree or refute that. But what kind of Muppet wouldn't think Spezza wasn't taking revenge for the suspendable play that happened a minute and a half ago? Of course he was.
If you think I'm here to defend every (or any) decision by DOPS, you're sorely mistaken. They are often incompetent and everyone can see that many suspension decisions are nonsensical and incongruent with prior decisions.
Okposo's hit was worse than a handful of suspended hits, and also tamer than hundreds that weren't suspended. There's no rhyme or reason. We all know this.
I'm not making any excuses regarding Bunting, it's just a fact that the line of acceptability on certain plays can evolve over time (low bridge, kneeing, head contact, etc), and reverse hits are no exception. His incident was pretty much at the peak of the "we gotta get this stuff out of the game" discourse, while lately the pendulum has swung and folks seem ok with it.
Yes, Berggren's cross check was basically the same as Matthews'. Did you expect him to get the same suspension? What league have you been watching if you expected that? The problem with your case is you've only demonstrated what everyone already knows: Parros and DOPS are incompetent. You are taking it a few steps beyond credibility what you say that this incompetence only negatively affects the leafs.
If you're like most leafs fans, you probably watch every leafs game, and other teams only occasionally. Of course you can produce a laundry list of all the times you think we were wronged (and we have been). What you can't possibly have is the perspective of 31 other fanbases who all have similar grievances. Go find me one fanbase who thinks the league is on their side. I'll wait.
Do you know for a fact that the play should have been blown dead the second he desperately batted the puck away with a broken stick? Or should that just be the moment the delayed call starts until the leafs regain possession at which point the whistle blows? And even if that is a fact, what's your point? That a ref missed a call? Again, what league have you been watching that you don't expect refs to miss calls?
The tip of Woll's blocker briefly touched the top of the puck. It's extremely one sided to think we should consider that frozen or that Reinhart pushed the blocker into the net to earn the goal. The ref called no goal on the ice, meaning they needed video to conclusively refute that call. A biased ref would've just called it a goal on the ice. The League unfortunately ruled against us, so whatever McCauley thought never mattered in the end. But I forgot, whoever reviewed that play upstairs was biased, too...
