The Toronto Maple Leafs’ time in the bubble didn’t go as planned. Is it their fault or are they the victims of an elaborate conspiracy?
There’s nothing like a good conspiracy theory. The Toronto Maple Leafs are often at the center of many of them.
From Jeremy Bracco’s mysterious disappearance to the questionable decision making from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, fans often believe in the presence of some machination to cheat the Leafs out of success.
These are the top three Maple Leafs conspiracy theories currently circulating.
Number Three
Depending on how one views hockey officiating, they may have been scratching their heads when the league announced the referee team of the Toronto Maple Leafs Game Five showdown against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Wes McCauley and Kevin Pollock wore the armbands while Greg Devorski and Matt MacPherson worked the lines. What’s odd about this officiating team was that the referees were last-minute substitutions for Trevor Hanson and Eric Furlatt.
Bit of a shakeup in the NHL ref lineup today. Furlatt/Hanson would've been in the rotation to work #TORvsCBJ, but NHL subbing in McCauley and Pollock - working together for the first time this postseason. https://t.co/kgntc1U6N4
— Scouting The Refs (@ScoutingTheRefs) August 9, 2020
What is indisputable is the expected number of penalties dropped thanks to this officiating change. This likely wasn’t an accident. According to Scouting the Refs, Hanson called an average of 4.1 penalties and 3.5 minors per game this season. It was the fifth most of any referee in the league. Furlatt called an average of 3.6 penalties and 3.1 minor penalties per game.
Instead of allowing the crew to go on as initially planned, the change was made for a duo where both of the replacement referees made fewer calls on average. Pollock blew down 3.4 penalties and 2.9 minors per game. McCauley shares the third-fewest penalties per game of all the regular officials on staff. He called 3.2 of them, 2.9 of which were minor penalties.
This then begs the question, what’s wrong with using refs that keep their whistle in their pockets? It’s generally detrimental to the more skilled team to give the players more rope. That’s because the opposition will use dirty tactics to slow the more skilled team down. In this series, the Maple Leafs were clearly that group.
If the NHL’s plan was to reduce powerplay opportunities for the Maple Leafs by maintaining more even-strength play, they got exactly what they were looking for. The referee tandem gave the Blue Jackets the man-advantage twice, while the Leafs had just one powerplay.
The refs game management for the rubber match included allowing Mitch Marner to be blatantly tripped by Nick Foligno 46 seconds before Liam Foudy put his team up 2 – 0.
Fans will always blame referees for a perceived mishandling of a game. This conspiracy theory is generated only because the league is also directly involved. If McCauley and Pollock were the originally scheduled duo to preside over Game Five, there would now be fewer fans with raised eyebrows.