Final Four NHL Teams Coincidence or Fixed?

Did anyone else notice that the final four NHL teams vying for the 2013 Stanley Cup are also the last four teams to win the cup? The past four winners were the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, the Boston Bruins in 2011, the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. True, these are some of the top and favored teams from the start but is this a strange coincidence or was this manipulated to keep ratings up after a lockout shortened season? The previous lockout cancelled the full 2004-2005 season and it was disastrous for the NHL. A similar disaster was averted even though the season was shortened but good news for the NHL, Playoff ratings are up.

Henrik Lundqvist Hints at Fix

On Monday of this week the New York Rangers won game six of the first round NHL playoffs 3-2 to force a deciding game seven so why was Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist up in arms? With the Rangers leading 3-1 with less than a minute remaining the Senators scored after what Lundqvist claimed was interference and an illegal kick of the puck. After a lengthy review officials upheld the call which Lundqvist called an, "absolute joke" and "someone wanted them back in the game, for sure." This hint of collusion sounds similar to comments made by coach John Tortorella after the Winter Classic. Interesting to note that one source showed close to 62% of bettors on the Rangers and roughly 63% on the under which happened to be 5. Bettors were already winning on the side so maybe they did let this extra goal slide to salvage a push on the total and not have a complete loss on the game for Vegas sports books.

Sandgate Skate Sabotage

Although the Philadelphia Flyers did advance to the Stanley Cup finals there was some controversy during their playoff series with the Montreal Canadiens now dubbed Sandgate.  NBC's Pierre McGuire noticed during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals that some foreign substance or sand was covering the floor by the Flyers' dressing room.  I can attest as a former hockey player that any foreign substance coming into contact with skate blades can be horrendous.  Throughout the game several Flyers' players left the ice for skate issues and by the third period towels covered the floor where the substance was reported.  Philly.com reported multiple players getting skates sharpened multiple times throughout the game which led to some missed shifts.  The Canadiens denied any knowledge or wrong doing but this sure seems like a case of sand-bagging the opponent but regardless the Flyers advanced to the finals.

NHL Refs Have Their Own Agenda

On December 8, 2009 Vancouver Canucks' forward Alex Burrows embellished an injury coaxing referee Stephane Auger to call a major and game misconduct on Predators Jerred Smithson.  Proof came in Burrows quick return to the ice on his next shift without any missed time.  In a rematch on January 11th Burrows accused referee Auger of retribution for embarrassing him into that call in December.  Before the game started words were exchanged in French in which Burrows claims referee Auger said payback was coming.  Auger first whistles Burrows for a questionable diving infraction.  Next he called him for a fake interference penalty.  With four seconds left he called on Burrows again for unsportsmanlike conduct and was given a game misconduct.  The Canucks' ended up losing 3-2 to the Predators on this night.  Did these bogus penalties lead to a Canuck loss?  Auger has 10 years of NHL experience and has not worked a playoff game since 2004.  Does the NHL know about their rogue referees but trying to hide the fix or do these refs have agendas of their own?  Either way this ruins the integrity of the game and is a blatant fix.

Flyers-Penguins Goal Dispute January 7, 2010

Producer Lowell MacDonald Jr. was suspended by FSN Pittsburgh network for his broadcast of the January 7, 2010 Flyers-Penguins game which failed to deliver replay video in a goal dispute in a timely manner.  With the road team Flyers up 5-3 it appeared Flyers forward Simon Gagne scored but officials ruled no goal because replay video was lacking.  Shortly after play resumed video replays were aired validating the goal but was too late to reverse.  Video replay sharing must be immediate per NHL rules.  FSN indefinitely suspended MacDonald on January 12th whose father once played for the Pens.  The road Flyers did end up winning this match 7-4.  What was the motive here?  It could have been a human or technical error but we always have to question these occurences.  Were they trying keep it close for a Pens comeback attempt?