Leafs goalie at the center of controversy once again, taking heat from around the league after repeatedly knocking his net off
Remember earlier in the season when Matt Murray and the Toronto Maple Leafs faced off against the New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild, with the goaltender knocking his net off of the moorings multiple times, causing a stir in the media? At the time, the Wild's head coach had some strong words about the play and the goaltender and former NHLer Mike McKenna came to Murray's defense and then it sort of just gradually dissipated. Well, a writer from The Athletic noticed Murray fiddling with his net during last night's game in Philly and has decided to fire up the controversy siren once again.
During the Leafs' 6-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers, it looked like Murray was back to his old tricks - whether on purpose or not - as the net came off its moorings a few times. Michael Russo tweeted about it earlier today after observing the plays from the Situation Room itself.
"It was noticed in the Situation Room last night that Murray was wiggling the net during the TV timeout. League is actually testing nets coming up but also clipping goalies taking nets off moorings and bringing examples to GM's Meeting in March. Murray's net came off twice last night."
-Russo on Murray knocking the net off in Philly
-Russo on Murray knocking the net off in Philly
It has become a hot topic because Murray seems to be public enemy number one when it comes to this issue. Opposing teams have said when they scout the Leafs ahead of their games, they are told to watch out for these instances. He was seen wiggling the net, something that the opposing goaltenders don't generally do or at least as often as Murray, and sometimes when a dangerous situation is about to occur, the net seems to find itself dislodged - during the aforementioned Wild game it came off 3 times. Now, with another 2 times in Philly, apparently GMs are not pleased.
We can neither confirm nor deny whether Murray is doing this with actual intent but it is something to keep an eye on. Russo responded to several tweets where fans said he was being closed-minded and accusatory, saying: "I was IN the Situation Room and I am telling you the league is watching and clipping these examples because it's an epidemic with him and others."
Other general managers are on the lookout, some angrier than others, and it is something that the NHL is going to look at and scrutinize moving forward.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 9 | 326 ANSWERS Leafs goalie at the center of controversy once again, taking heat from around the league after repeatedly knocking his net off Is Murray taking the net off of the moorings on purpose? | ||
| Yes | 136 | 41.7 % |
| No | 190 | 58.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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