Linesman who forcefully shoved Leafs winger down the tunnel last season given a promotion by the league
As you may or may not recall, last December, during a heated game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, an NHL linesman, Dan Kelly, put his hands on a Maple Leafs player, forcefully shoving him down the tunnel and off of the ice surface, causing a bit of a stir.
The player in question was Michael Bunting, who, as you may remember, had a hard time drawing penalties for most of the season and had earned himself a bit of a negative reputation among officials. Here's the incident in question:
Kelly had a previous distaste for the Leafs organization prior to becoming an NHL official, actually receiving a 10-game suspension in 2016 after he delivered a vicious, illegal check to the head of then Toronto Marlies forward Andreas Johnsson during the playoffs.
Well, as fate would have it, Dan Kelly just received a promotion and will be a full-time NHL referee this season.
Granted, this is just one incident out of countless games, but the fact that there's already such an intense focus on NHL officials, you'd have thought that the NHL would have opted to seek out some referees and linesmen with less controversy in their history as players and officials to begin with.
Just another example of how Gary Bettman can't seem to find the pulse of the NHL's collective fanbase.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 18 | 93 ANSWERS Linesman who forcefully shoved Leafs winger down the tunnel last season given a promotion by the league Does Dan Kelly deserve a promotion after shoving a Leafs player last season? | ||
| Yes, it was just one game | 10 | 10.8 % |
| No, can't have refs doing that | 67 | 72 % |
| Don't care | 16 | 17.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
