Flames' Sutter suggests NHL refs are biased towards the Leafs

You can count Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter as the latest member of the “league is rigged in favour of the Toronto Maple Leafs” conspiracy theory.

During Saturday’s matchup between Sutter’s Flames and the Leafs in Toronto, Calgary was on the penalty kill for six different times, picking up a total of seven minor penalties (including one double minor).

Toronto, meanwhile, took four penalties.

The biggest call of the game came just three seconds into overtime, where Calgary’s Jonathan Huberdeau picked up a high-sticking penalty that gave Toronto a four-on-three advantage.

Exactly 40 seconds later, the Leafs’ Mitch Marner scored a tiebreaking goal to send the fans home happy, and Sutter into, well, a typical Sutter post-game reaction.

When asked about the penalty differential, Sutter seemed to suggest that there might be some favouritism going on from the referee crew.

“When you’re in Chicago all those years, when you play and come into Toronto, you know what goes on,” Sutter said following his team’s defeat. “I won’t say nothin’ more.”

“That’s one thing I learned a long time ago — when you’re in Chicago all those years and you come into Toronto, you know what goes on. I won’t say nothing more.” -Darryl Sutter #Flames fans… after taking 7 penalties against the Leafs, do you agree with the coach? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/EFWr007HVK

— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) December 11, 2022

“Did you think they were all penalties tonight? I don’t,” Sutter added.

The idea of Toronto being a league darling is an interesting one: the league’s Canadian office (containing the replay, as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame, are just steps from Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

You might also like:
• Gaudreau calls first ever game against Flames "quiet" on the chirping front

But outside of a convenient location and narrative, the facts don’t really add up.

The Leafs and the Flames have drawn exactly 116 penalties each this season, though Toronto has taken just 112 to Calgary’s 126.

Meanwhile, the Leafs remain without a Stanley Cup since 1967, and without a playoff series win since 2004.  if the league is actually rigging things in favour of Toronto — implicitly or explicitly — well, they’ve done quite a bad job at it.