NHL Accused of Unfair Treatment Towards Toronto Maple Leafs Amidst Intense Media Coverage

PUBLICATION

Tom Banks
February 15, 2024 (2:13 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the biggest team in the NHL with the biggest fan base, and while that comes with some positives, it also brings with it plenty of negatives.

Toronto face unfair punishment due to media coverage

When Morgan Rielly's suspension was announced as five games, many people were shocked that he got that much, and now TSN's Darren Dreger has revealed why that ultimately happened.

Dregger on Overdrive just said again that he has talked to people around the league, and there are some that think Rielly was in line for a 2 or 3 game suspension. But the amount of coverage it got made the league up it to 5 so as to not be perceived as soft on Toronto.... 🤔

Whether or not this is entirely true may never be known, but given the favouritism that many believe Toronto get, this was the NHL's chance to even out the score.

Was Rielly deserving of a five-game suspension?

The narrative around the NHL lately has focused solely on the Ridley Greig/Morgan Rielly incident, and while it was his first major offense, Rielly could have done major damage with a cross-check directly to the face.

According to Dreger's sources however, it was meant to be a 2-3 game suspension until the league upped it to five games as a result of media coverage, so while many accuse the NHL of bias towards Toronto, the same can't be said about this situation.