It happens in all sports, not just the NHL. Fans become convinced that there is a ‘conspiracy’ in place against their team, some sort of call from a higher authority that determines the trajectory a team takes. This is amped up even more, when penalty calls and decisions made by NHL officials can have a direct result on a playoff series.
Detroit Red Wings fans are convinced the NHL has it out for their team.
Dallas Mavericks fans are convinced the NBA decided their loss to the Heat in the finals (although with NBA officiating, that may have some merit).
Now, it seems, the Vancouver Canucks could have a target on their backs. With Mike Murphy, former coach of the Kings, as the VP of hockey operations there are claims that he’s calling the shots in favor of the Kings.
I’m not buying it.
Bad calls are made against every team, in every sport, all the time. In fact, as Greg Wyshynski puts it on Puck Daddy, the War Room decisions are a consensus of a group of people. It’s not just Murphy making the decisions.
If the NHL really had it out for the Red Wings, then the league wouldn’t have called back several borderline goals by the Dallas Stars two years ago. They wouldn’t have given Todd Bertuzzi a goal this season when he “kicked” it in when the back of his skate.
What is really unfortunate, is when the media plays up the conspiracy theories as well. From Ed Willes of The Province:
Oh, the call on Daniel’s non-goal will make for some talk-show fodder today, particularly because it’s now clear the NHL wants the Kings to win.
Let’s talk about how Roberto Luongo looks just as bad as he did coming back from the Olympics. How Henrik Sedin is struggling to live up expectations. How the Vancouver defense is left standing around and watching as the Kings forwards overmatch them game after game. That is where the focus should be. Forget conspiracies, it’s just a way of forgetting what the real issues are with your team.