Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube's Criticism of Officials After Loss Could Land Him in Hot Water
Craig Berube's comments on officiating following a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars Tuesday may cost the Maple Leafs' bench boss pretty penny.
The Maple Leafs hit three posts on their first power play on Tuesday night, but couldn't beat Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, going 0-for-2 with the man advantage. The Stars, on the other hand, were able to capitalize on two of their three power play opportunities, including one that saw John Tavares head to the box for a questionable slashing call that was met with a chorus of boos from the Leafs' faithful.
Following the game, Berube was asked about the officiating and did his best to bite his tongue, but didn't mince words when it came to the penalty that led to the eventual game-winning goal.
Tavares also commented on the penalties called, noting that he wasn't a fan of how the officials called the game either.
Berube managed to avoid being fined for criticizing officials back in November. This time, will he be so lucky?
This wouldn't be the first time a Leafs coach would be fined in recent memory as former Leafs bench boss Sheldon Keefe was fined last season and had to fork out $25K to the league.
While the league does whatever it can to protect its officials from criticism, they do absolutely nothing when it comes to disciplining them for blown or missed calls that significantly impact the outcome of a game.
The Leafs got off to their best start in weeks, scoring first and outshooting the Stars 6-0 in the first half of the opening period. Unfortunately, things started to unravel after that, culminating with the weak penalty that saw the Stars take the lead on the ensuing power play.
The league tends to act swiftly when it comes to disciplining anyone in the Leafs' organization, so we should find out at some point today if Berube will have to crack open his wallet for the league or if he said just enough to avoid being slapped with a fine.
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7 HOURS AGO | 262 ANSWERS Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube's Criticism of Officials After Loss Could Land Him in Hot Water Does the NHL need to discipline officials and implement some sort of promotion/demotion system with the AHL? | ||
