The conflict of interest with Wes McCauley and the Leafs cannot be ignored; the story of how Keefe got on the hit list of the NHL ref

Sheldon Keefe and former St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton played junior hockey together and were good friends. Back in their junior hockey days, Sheldon Keefe and Danton played for the Quinte Hawks, coached by a man named David Frost. When Keefe played out a short NHL career, Frost continued on as his agent. A few years later, Frost was accused and acquitted of four counts of sexual assault in 2008. While Frost was acquitted on his charges, Danton was convicted of attempted murder after attempting to hire someone to kill Frost after the incident, which had Keefe testifying against Frost during the 2008 trial.

How does all of this relate to McCauley? Well, McCauley and Frost, who at one point went under the alias Jim McCauley, are brothers-in-law and are reportedly very close. In Game 7 last year, it was Wes that made the horrendous call, assessing a 2-minute minor on Justin Holl for interference on a pick play, negating a John Tavares goal and in December of this season, it was McCauley who got Keefe fined $25,000 for arguing with his officiating during a game against St. Louis.

Once again, the NHL is turning a blind eye to a conflict of interest in the league. There is absolutely no reason for McCauley to be reffing Leaf games, given the history, as long as Keefe is the coach of the Leafs. McCauley clearly holds a bias against Keefe for testifying against his brother and distancing himself from Frost.