Leafs receive terrible explanation as to why referee didn't call a penalty on Marchand for injuring Liljegren
Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren will be out long-term according to Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. The injury occurred very late in the first period of last night's game against the Boston Bruins when Liljegren got tangled up with Bruins captain Brad Marchand as they were racing to a puck in the Leafs zone. Marchand got his stick between Liljegren's legs and proceeded to take his feet out from under him, right in front of referee Wes McCauley, leading to the injury. There was no call on the play.
At the end of the period, Sheldon Keefe had a discussion with McCauley and detailed his conversation in his post-game press conference.
If you watch the alternate angle of the play below, you'll probably find yourself asking the questions, "How did he not see it?" and "What in the hell is he looking at then?"
McCauley is watching Liljegren and Marchand battle for positioning from the top of the circle to the boards and says he didn't see it. That has to be the worst excuse for not making a call in the history of the game considering he was right next to the play and staring intently at the battle. It is, at the very least, a blatant trip. It's a call that we see consistently made through the season, but once again, Wes McCauley is calling a Leafs game by his own set of rules.
At this point, the NHL needs to take a look at who they have officiating games and make a better effort in avoiding conflicts of interest. Not only that, but the league should be holding officials accountable for missing obvious and dangerous penalties like this one. We all know how this is going to go though, Keefe is going to get fined for calling out the officiating and McCauley is going to continue about his business, free to screw the team again in the future.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 3 | 887 ANSWERS Leafs receive terrible explanation as to why referee didn't call a penalty on Marchand for injuring Liljegren Should the NHL fine officials for missing obvious and dangerous penalties? | ||
| Yes | 806 | 90.9 % |
| No | 24 | 2.7 % |
| Mistakes happen, it's part of the game | 57 | 6.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
