Fan reveals that there is a conflict of interest between Sheldon Keefe and Wes McCauley
Last night's game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and St.Louis Blues had everyone's least favourite form of hockey controversy - the referees once again made themselves the star of the show. Not only that, this time there was a serious personal connection between Keefe and the official.
Late in the tightly contested game, with the Leafs leading by one goal, the referees missed a call that would particularly irk Leafs' fans. Prior to the Blues tying goal, Blues' defenceman Justin Faulk runs an obvious pick against Justin Holl. The interference completely took Holl out of the play and immediately resulted in the tying goal, much to the complaint of Sheldon Keefe.
It's a play eerily similar to the one that caused the Leafs to have Tavares' tying goal called back in game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning last year. Wes McCauley was the same referee in that game, and it seemed Keefe was intent on reminding McCauley of the discrepancy in his calls.
That wasn't all either. Later in the game, with Keefe already irate at the missed interference call and personally upset with Wes McCauley, Leafs' forward Zach Aston-Reese took a high stick and started to bleed. Yet, no call was made on the play.
Aston-Reese immediately drops his stick and glove, finds blood on his face and looks directly at the referee. Being in the middle of a puck battle, the referee should've seen the high stick. Even if the officials missed it, they had the option to review the play because it would've been a major penalty. Instead, the high-stick wasn't called, and the officials did not review the play either. With the game about to head to overtime, Keefe explodes on McCauley for the missed call. You can really only make out expletives and an obvious high-stick gesture.
The Leafs went on the win the game in overtime via a breakaway goal from William Nylander, but the distaste of Wes McCauley's officiating was still palpable. Upon further investigation, there's a dark personal connection between Keefe and McCauley that calls into question whether they should be allowed in the same games at all.
When Sheldon Keefe was 16, he played for the Quinte Hawks, coached by a man named David Frost. When Keefe played out a short NHL career, Frost continued on as his agent. Later, Frost was accused and acquitted of four counts of sexual assault in 2008. Keefe's friend and teammate, Mike Danton, was even convicted of attempted murder of Frost after the incident.
Keefe has since distanced himself from Frost and the scandal, however, Frost's close personal relationship with McCauley could absolutely confound their professional relationship, especially in the dramatic circumstances their lives have connected in.
| POLL | ||
Is there a conflict of interest between Keefe and McCauley? | ||
| Yes, that's definitely a conflict | 232 | 78.6 % |
| No, there isn't a conflict | 63 | 21.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
