Former Leaf reacts to Darryl Sutter's comments insinuating that the NHL is conspiring with the Leafs
Following Saturday evening's 5-4 OT win by the Leafs over the Calgary Flames, Darryl Sutter was noticeably frustrated with the outcome and used his post-game media session to draw attention to what, in his mind, was a very clear bias that the league has towards the Leafs.
The Flames were shorthanded 6 times in the contest and only drew 2 penalties from the Leafs, but the real backbreaker came in overtime when, right after the opening faceoff, Jonathan Huberdeau clipped Rasmus Sandin with a high stick, which led to the Mitch Marner PP goal to seal the deal. These are not exactly ticky tack penalty calls. They're pretty clear-cut rule infractions, so reporters and podcasters had an absolute field day with Sutter over the comments.
One former Leaf, Jay Rosehill, had a chance to touch on Sutter's comments during a recent edition of the Leafs Morning Take podcast. Rosehill had a real problem with the idea that the league is biased towards the Leafs. He pointed out that Leafs fans often have something to complain about regarding a call or a challenge that has gone against them and that the whole idea that the league is colluding with the Leafs just doesn't make a lick of sense. It's hard to argue there.
The show's host, Nick Alberga, also mentioned that he felt as though Sutter may have brought up this storyline about the Leafs and the league specifically to divert attention away from the fact that his team lost a game in which they had several leads. The Flames have not been nearly as strong a team as they were over the last couple of years. They're currently sitting 5th in the Pacific Division, which isn't exactly known for being the most competitive division to play in in the NHL. Perhaps Alberga is right to suggest that Sutter struck the chord that he knew would draw all of the attention to avoid having the attention placed on the Flames' poor play of late.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 13 | 299 ANSWERS Former Leaf reacts to Darryl Sutter's comments insinuating that the NHL is conspiring with the Leafs Do you think Sutter's comments were genuine or do you think they were used to divert attention away from the Flames' poor play? | ||
| Genuine accusation from Sutter | 48 | 16.1 % |
| Diversionary tactic | 251 | 83.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
