LATEST | Toronto calling for '�obvious game management'' over the NHL's officiating decision in Game one

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Cooper Godin
April 19, 2023 (9:53)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have had quite a rough time when they've had Wes McCauley has officiated their games, especially in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and their fans are NOT happy about it.

According to popular Twitter user, Scouting The Refs, since 2017 and including last night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the 2020 play-in series vs Columbus, the Toronto Maple Leafs have gone a collective 0-8 when Wes McCauley has officiated their games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Here's the Toronto Maple Leafs' playoff record (all-time) under referee Wes McCauley. #LeafsForever @MapleLeafs pic.twitter.com/6tCbfDyiTB� x - Scouting The Refs (@ScoutingTheRefs) April 19, 2023

But do Maple Leafs fans have a point when it comes to McCauley being biased against their team? Back in December, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was fined $25,000 for demeaning conduct towards Wes McCauley during a game against the St. Louis Blues. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Lightning have not lost a game this season when McCauley has been one of the officials.

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Wes McCauley will be officiating tonight's game. The Lightning did not lose a game this season with him on the ice.� Matt LaBelle (@mattlabelle) April 18, 2023

When it comes to Game 1 last night, where the Maple Leafs lost 7-3 to the Lightning, one fan pointed out a strange occurrence during the second period. Shortly after both Ryan O'Reilly and William Nylander scored, the Maple Leafs were sent to the penalty box, with Luke Schenn going off for cross checking and David Kampf getting two minutes for slashing.

2) Obvious Game Management.
Nobody paid money to watch the refs, I'm not sure why they feel the need to have as large an impact on the games as possible. https://t.co/26rP5BNfkx� K O (@lIIogicaI) April 19, 2023

But it goes even further than just on the ice. Yesterday before Game 1, fans were reminded about a potential conflict of interest regarding Wes McCauley and Sheldon Keefe that makes a lot of people question, 'why would the National Hockey League assign him to work Toronto's game?'.

During his younger years while playing junior hockey, Sheldon Keefe was abused, emotionally and mentally by a man named David Frost, a former agent. Keefe even took the stand in Frost's sexual exploitation trial in 2008, but what the Maple Leafs head coach said remains under a publication ban.

Why is all this relevant? Well, it turns out that David Frost's brother-in-law is, you guess it, NHL referee Wes McCauley. So it's understandable why Maple Leafs fans are extremely frustrated and unhappy with the league's decision to appoint McCauley to officiate Game 1 last night.

3) Massive Conflict of Interest.
Not sure if the @NHL is ignorant or unaware of the relationship between Sheldon Keefe and Wes McCauley but he should not be refereeing any games involving Keefe in the first place. https://t.co/0oygBjZj1z� K O (@lIIogicaI) April 19, 2023

Previously on CanucksDaily

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WATCH | Jets' player leaves game after suffering a skate cut to the forehead (video)

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19 AVRIL \| 243 ANSWERS LATEST \| Toronto calling for '�obvious game management'' over the NHL's officiating decision in Game one Did the NHL make a mistake in assigning McCauley to ref Game 1?
Yes	173	71.2 %
No	50	20.6 %
See Results	20	8.2 %
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