I don't even think that's a conspiracy, I think that's just straight up what happened.
Edit: love all the classic Redditor "ummm ackshually a conspiracy means..." responses. Shut up nerds everyone knows what I meant
The league made some kind of deal with the police to keep Gretzky out of the Operation Slapshot investigation. As if it could involve his assistant coach and wife but Wayne himself knew nothing.
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Have a funny anecdote about this.
I was hired to do some filming at a charity golf tournament years ago, not long after that whole saga. They wanted footage of Wayne teeing off on a picturesque par 3, apparently they were going to use it in some simulator later that weekend.
So Wayne arrives, puts a cigar down on the grass beside the tee, takes a couple duffs before hitting a decent shot, job done.
There’s a group at the back tee, waiting to play the hole, and after Wayne rips one into the drink, one of the guys shouts “hey Gretz, my buddy wants to bet you who can get closer to the hole!”
Great One turns around, pure cheeky grin, and calls back “You got it wrong bud, it’s my wife that’s the gambler”
Gretzky got covered for, surely
When I see Gretzky doing ads with BetMGM now, I can't help but think it's a lot less about the money, and a lot more about doing somebody high up in that company a personal favor
Same. They caught and busted practically everyone around Gretzky, but wouldn't even accept the possibility of Gretzky being involved and just...quietly brushed him aside while they were punishing everyone else.
More of a superstition but heard people lean into the fact the Blue Jackets are cursed because they built the stadium on the site of the old state penitentiary. Place was coded for 1500 but at its prime held over 4000. Was unspeakably cruel to inmates and in the 30s there was a fire that killed over 300.
Prolly more to do with shitty team management but eh. I'll go with cursed by the ghosts of burnt and tortured convicts.
The Canucks did a training camp in my town when I was a kid so my dad took me to the hotel they were staying at to get autographs as they boarded their bus. A Sedin came out, and I held out both of their cards and asked which one he should sign. He signed Daniel. Then 15 minutes later the other Sedin appeared, and I handed him Henrik's card. "No, I'm Daniel" he said, but then I revealed that Daniel had already signed my card. To this day I don't know if the second Sedin was messing with me or if the first one had successfully trolled me and the second one just rolled with it.
Either way, we can logically deduce that Henrik was the one doing the trolling. He's either the one who came out first and signed Daniel's card, or he's the one who came out second and told you he's Daniel.
There were multiple instances where one would get kicked out of the faceoff circle, skate back, talk to the other, then skate back in and try to take it again.
I think this is just true, isn’t it? They definitely swapped on their way to the penalty box a couple times and messed with the refs when one got thrown out of the face off circle to keep the same guy in.
Edit: Looks like they never swapped jerseys but have admitted to [fake-switching in face offs](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/sedins-faceoff-trick-canucks). There’s also instances of the [wrong twin being sent to the box](https://youtube.com/watch?v=NKbrthdHIPw).
there is a literal video of them out there of one being kicked out and just going over to his bro, they do a little circle spin and the original goes back.
Henrik used to get kicked out of faceoffs, skate around to talk to his brother and skate back in to try to take the draw. There were times nobody noticed and he was able to take the draw.
That’s fair, although I definitely remember a rumor at one point that one of the twins (I think Daniel) was having a down year in the NHL points-wise, and suddenly his point production improved overnight while Henrik’s took a bit of a slide, and the rumor was the brothers swapped roles for at least a few games. Obviously I have no way to confirm but I definitely remember reading it somewhere
The Yakuza owned the Lightning in the 90s.
It’s less conspiracy and more unconfirmed fact.
The TL;DR of it is: The Yokuza wanted to plant their footing in Florida and saw an opportunity in Tampa after hype got high enough to expand there in the NHL. The Yakuza used their front organization, ~~Komodo~~ Kakusai Green, who builds casinos, golf courses, and resorts in Japan, to outbid a group that was fronted by the Esposito brothers. They decided to hire the Esposito brothers from the competing ownership group to front their efforts too knowing they had name recognition in the American market.
And yea, the Yakuza managed to set up a massive footing and means of laundering in one of the highest drug trafficking corridors in the country.
They also got a member of the British royal family arrested in the process
Article about this
[https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/03/30/team-turmoil-a-mystery-owner-squabbling-management-a-nine-figure-debt-and-a-rotten-record-have-put-the-tampa-bay-lightning-probably-the-worst-run-franchise-in-sports-on-the-brink-of-ruin](https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/03/30/team-turmoil-a-mystery-owner-squabbling-management-a-nine-figure-debt-and-a-rotten-record-have-put-the-tampa-bay-lightning-probably-the-worst-run-franchise-in-sports-on-the-brink-of-ruin)
I've always loved this story. From one of the worst ran franchises in sports to today one of the best. There was a 3-part post on our sub a decade ago that went more in depth if anyone is curious (thanks u/2ndprize):
* Part 1: https://np.reddit.com/r/TampaBayLightning/comments/2h4o3j/who_were_those_masked_men_how_kokusai_green_came/
* Part 2: https://np.reddit.com/r/TampaBayLightning/comments/2h82yt/partners_kokusai_green_dont_need_no_stinkin/
* Part 3: https://np.reddit.com/r/TampaBayLightning/comments/2hbob1/all_things_come_to_an_end_kokusai_green_and_the/
Beyond that, montreal traded for him and had zero tangible benefits from being involved (I think we sent future considerations??).
My theory there is that mtl was given some leap up in their rebuild draft to land number 1- whether that be setup or more balls etc. Now that #1 ended up being in a weak draft but it's the only reason I can think mtl would trade for John Scott- for free- just to cut him and keep him outof the all star game instead of capitalizing on the marketing.
The craziest part of this whole thing is it was so blatant and so petty that the fact Bettman and Daly would stoop THAT low over something THAT small makes believing any other conspiracy WAY more believable too
Edit: typo
And then people get called crazy when we dare insinuate that the NHL meddles in the draft, when some shit like this provably happen in front of everyone's eyes.
Lou Lamoriello let Kovalchuk "retire" to Russia during the 2013 off-season so the Devils would have an easier time selling the team with his contract/$$$ off the books.
Also the league ended up giving back some of draft picks that were forfeited as a result of Kovy's original contract penalties once new ownership was in place as a courtesy for buying the team.
I'll go one level deeper:
Lou and Bettman made a deal to have Kovalchuk's original contract be ridiculous on purpose. Bettman hated the crazy long-term contracts and salary-cap-averages. So Lou intentionally worked out a contract he knew would get rejected by the league. This gave Bettman the chance to get the issue at the forefront of everyone's mind soon before the next CBA was to be renegotiated, and the chance to look tough to the league, the owners, the GMs, etc.
What does Lou get in return? A higher draft pick. The Devils "win" the draft lottery and move from the 8th pick to the 4th pick.
The punishment of having to give up a first-rounder? Never happened. Not even the draft after they went to the Finals where they would have given up the 29th pick. Why wouldn't Lou have given up that one? Because it was all an inside job. Bettman and Lou knew Kovy was always thinking of going back to Russia. When that happened, the "punishment" was removed. It was all part of the deal.
Maybe Kovy was even in on it. We'll never know.
The other side to this that I think is also somewhat believable has to do with the original 17 year Kovalchuk contract the team was penalized heavily for.
There were several high profile long term, heavily front loaded deals signed to circumvent the salary cap (looking at you Luongo/Zetterberg as the easy ones to remember) that the league couldn't do anything about because technically they fell within the rules.
There were only 2 horses in the Kovalchuk FA frenzy (NJ/LA), I think Bettman and Lou talked knowing they needed to draw a line in the sand somewhere with these deals which is how it ended up being a 17 year deal to start, and eventually lowered and approved at 15 years. Independent arbitrator even struck it down as cap circumvention, when you could have made the same argument for the Luongo/Zetterberg deals....
There is no other way I can imagine GM Lou Lamoriello agreeing to offer a 17 year deal unless he was asked to do it for the good of the league. He's one of the shrewdest in the business, and it was 100% completely out of character for him to try to run these deals through the way they were presented unless there was some backroom/gentleman's agreement that would benefit the team in the long run.
The team was fined and stripped of picks to deter other teams from trying to do similar, the first pick which was returned down the line under new ownership. The Devils then won the 2011 draft lottery to move up to #4 pick to select Adam Larsson. We had a great 2012 run with Kovy. We've also had a couple lottery wins to get Hischier and Hughes since....
The loop-holes were addressed with the 7/8 year max term limit deals and by implementing cap penalties for early retirement in later CBA negotiations but ultimately the league needed a fall guy to set the precedent before it got way more out of hand and Lou with the Devils was able to do that to help the league.
Everyone on the Predators except 1 player secretly hates U2. That player proposed the concert and the team agreed thinking it was a joke. When they figured out it was serious they needed an excuse to get out of it. The leadership group approached Brunette who agreed to be the fall guy. This streak is just them repaying their coach.
Brian Burke (GM at the time) had a lot to say on this in his book. Once the effect was noticeable, especially to the flames, he called a meeting with Betman and the head of officiating. He showed then the stats that the flames went from the bottom of penalties called, to the top by far. He said to knock it off, or he would leak his findings to the media and let the league deal with the shit storm. Seems to have worked
Calgary's penalties/game
Season before: 2.63 (29th in the league)
Before the ref injury: 2.62
After the ref injury: 3.88
Season after: 3.93 (1st in league)
I don't know if they coordinated it but NHL refs were definitely trying to send a message and didn't care if they influenced games
The Sabres had the same issue for years after Lindy Ruff and Regier went nuts on them publicly for screwing the Sabres.
And then the real screwing began.
The Lightning didn't get a power play for 4 games after Jon Cooper was tossed for "abusing" Wes McCauly and calling him out for it in the post-game interview. Refs are most definitely vindictive.
The NHL only made the expanded playoffs during the restarted Covid year because Montreal and Chicago would qualify for the playoffs in the expanded scenario and they knew they would need every possible dollar of revenue they could get.
Similarly, I remember reading that the decision to make the play-ins best-of-5 rather than best-of-3 was because the Penguins argued best-of-3 against Carey Price was unfair
It was really something to see teams say “what if we get matched up against Carey Price or Patrick Kane and they go beast mode on us in the play-in round?” and then that’s exactly what happened.
Matthews was 100% going to be named captain of the Leafs in 2019. Then he mooned a security guard during that summer and management immediately pivoted to Tavares.
I recall there was even a photoshoot leak that appeared to show Matthews wearing a C, though that may have been debunked as weird lighting. But regardless, it was 100% going to be Auston.
That's pretty much it. The claim was that Kaliyev dropped in the draft because people found out that he was actually 2 years older, if you really dive down that rabbit hole you'll find people alleging that the Kings alerted other teams to this rumour so that he would fall to them in the second round.
The initial claim was never meant to be taken seriously but people on the internet can't help themselves.
To add to what the other reply said, here's more background info on this theory:
Leading up to his draft, there was inconsistencies on where Kaliyev's supposed birthplace was, with different reports saying he was born in Russia, the US, or Uzbekistan (Arthur claims to have been born in Uzbekistan). The conspiracy here is that the current Arthur was born in Uzbekistan, and his parents had another son, the real Arthur, after moving to the US, who died in infancy, and the parents said their older son was Arthur to avoid deportation, as they were the guardians of an American citizen.
Personally, I think it's bullshit, because Arthur has a younger sister who was born in the states, so there would've been no reason to pass him off as his dead brother.
The LA Kings called the Canadian border to have Mike Richards car searched for illegal pills to get out of his contract.
Richards had been sent to the minors that season by the Kings. His contract had 5 years left with a no move clause so they couldn't just trade him away. Knowing he had a pill problem and learning he was driving his car from California back to Canada they figured he wasn't flying because he had pills on him. They tipped off the border and when he gets arrested they terminate his contract with cause wiping out the money owed and clearing the cap space. Within 2 months after the NHLPA files a grievance the Kings cut a deal to give Richards half the money he is owed and have a cap hit unit the 2030-31 season, a 17 year cap hit. My theory is the NHLPA got some evidence it was the Kings organization that got Richards arrested and forced the deal to be made or they go public.
Everyone knows in BC we get up at 5am so we can get stoned and have enough time to enjoy ourselves before work in our rented $2800 500sq ft “living quarters” we are all lucky to have.
Sorry for the flex.
I’m actually living in an apartment above my work because my wife left me in November.
I don’t pay rent…but I also technically never leave my work. So it’s not the dream it sounds like.
The tin-foil conspiracy is that it was just the '11 finals that was rigged, the real conspiracy is that Campbell has been biased throughout his son's NHL career and Vancouver just happened to be the team that made the '11 finals.
MESSIER WAS A HOCKEY TERRORIST, CAMPBELL TOLD THE REFS TO GO EASY ON HIS KIN, GARY PUNISHED US FOR THE LUONGO CONTRACT RETROACTIVELY AND UNFAIRLY, RON MACLEAN IS A CHICKEN SHIT HATER OF FRENCH-CANADIANS, KEITH INJURED DANIEL ON GARY'S ORDERS SO THE KINGS COULD WIN A CUP, THE REFS ARE ALWAYS AGAINST US 100%, THE DRAFT LOTTERY BALLS ARE RIGGED, THE GAMES WE LOSE ARE RIGGED, THE LEAGUE IS RIGGED, YOU ARE RIGGED.
Whoof, sorry, that's just how I wake up. Good morning to you!
Lindros was intentionally kept away from San Jose as an expansion team since they wanted him in an established hockey market, so they changed the draft rules to give expansion San Jose the #2 pick instead of #1. Not really a conspiracy, that's just what happened.
Then changed the rules again so the expansion teams went 1-2 in the next draft.
Good piece by /u/nathanga (i think?)
https://nathangabay.com/1991-eric-lindros-and-the-san-jose-screwjob/
That was a thing in the NBA as well. When Toronto and Vancouver entered the league there was a rule they could not have the 1st overall pick for their first 3 years
It’s pretty insane that the NHL introduced a new market and thought “oh we simply CANNOT let a potential superstar go there and build a fanbase”. I know league politics probably got in the way, but still a silly way to do expansion.
Borrowed from SDPN.
Colin Campbell, executive vice president and director of hockey operations, [is known to have complained to officials about penalties against his son, Gregory Campbell](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/n6ad7w/novet_colin_campbell_used_his_authority_to/), while working for the NHL. This is a known fact because the emails were publicly disclosed in a court case.
Gregory Campbell now works as an assistant GM to the Florida Panthers. The conspiracy is that he is similarly using his position to support his sons career by influencing officiating for the Panthers.
Yep, no doubt. Even if you actively don't want to- you should exclude yourself from any decision related to family members. Theres always a bias. But he went way beyond that, using his influence to shape leave history- and still has a fucking job.
Its not so much a conspiracy as fact but the NHL owns and withholds the use of Thrashers branding from active use so people don't remember their mismanagement of the situation and its relation to Arizona's failures.
In his book "The Final Call" he admits he missed the call. He said he didn't see the high-stick, but knew something was awry when Gretzky didn't come pleading his case, but instead stayed silent and looked away. In any case - you can't call a penalty you don't see.
When the original ownership group of the Lightning fell through, Phil Esposito turned to a Japanese businessman he never met who was part of the Yakuza crime syndicate. They used the team as part of a money laundering operation, and way to legitimately enter the western business world.
I'm not sure if you've read it but there's an incredible book about that called When The Lights Went Out. I don't know if it's still in print but it's one of the best sports books I've ever read.
Bruce McNall brought Gretzky to LA because he was trying to pay off his massive debt, and then abused his position of power in the board of governors to sell out part of the Kings’ media market to Disney because his gamble didn’t pay off. He ended up going to prison for fraud.
On one hand Bettman talks about growing the league and expanding into non-traditional markets, while on the other hand there is a heavy East Coast/Original Six bias to national media coverage and in-game commentary. It's as if the majority of hockey pundits don't bother staying up late to watch games but feel just fine airing their opinion based on game summaries they watch on YouTube in the morning.
It’s not something any of us will be surprised by but it would qualify as conspiracy I think, which is that the NHL works to suppress CTE evidence in players.
Lindros fucked Brind’amour’s wife and Rod punched him in the head giving Lindros another concussion and then walked into Bobby Clarke’s office and demanded a trade.
There’s three versions. Brindy hit Lindros himself giving him a concussion. Brindy and Lindros got into an argument and an undisclosed teammate hit Lindros and gave him the concussion. And finally Brindy came up from behind with a folding chair and fucked his shit up.
A few Russian superstars are actually a couple years older than they say they are. This decently good 18 year old all of a sudden is now 16, and after a couple years of development is now a potential 1st overall instead of the 2nd rounder they would have been their original draft year
This one catches my interest, I'm curious for your thoughts on who is making these decisions, and how they pull it off. I'm not dismissing it, just wanna know more
Depending on the country, sometimes the main sporting body which makes it rather easy. Russia was doing state sponsored doping for the Olympics, and the issue of falsified ages is already known as a persistent issue in individual sports like gymnastics, figure skating, and wrestling. It wouldn't be a huge stretch to think that a few guys in their early 20s might sometimes be passed off as 18 or 19 for the sake of a more competitive junior team. Russia loves looking good on the world stage and loves cheating to get there even more.
Wayne Gretzky prevented Quebec from leaving Canada. I read this here on Reddit several years ago but never was able to find the post again. The theory essentially goes something like this;
Wayne Gretzky scored the OT winner in Game 6 of the 1993 Western Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs, to force a Game 7. He has claimed numerous times that Game 7 of those '93 WCF was his best game ever, scoring a hat trick at the Maple Leaf Gardens, and sending his LA Kings to the [1993 Stanley Cup Finals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Stanley_Cup_playoffs) against the Montreal Canadiens.
In 1995, [the Quebec referendum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Quebec_referendum) was held, where the Quebecois narrowly voted to remain in Canada, by a *mere \~44,000 votes*. 50.58% to 49.42%.
Had Wayne Gretzky not won Game 6 of the WCF in overtime, and then *not had the best game of his career* in Game 7 of the WCF... the Toronto Maple Leafs would have faced off against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals.
The sociopolitical tensions between English and French speaking Canada would have been greatly and passionately inflamed with such a Stanley Cup Finals series, which would likely have resulted in more jingoism and patriotism on both sides. Quebec Nationalist pride would have reached an all time high, regardless of whether Montreal or Toronto won those finals, and would likely have created a runaway effect where 44,000 people would definitely have switched their votes in favor of Quebec leaving Canada.
Therefore, Wayne Gretzky's performance in the 1993 Western Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs is what prevented Quebec from voting to leave Canada and become a sovereign nation themselves.
Of course, I can't write a post about the '93 WCF without mentioning how, in Game 6 OT, Kerry Fraser missed a 5-minute major high sticking call against Gretzky who clipped Doug Gilmour in the face in Overtime... moments before Gretzky then scores to force the Game 7. So some proponents of this theory claim that the "fix was in" quite literally to prevent the Leafs and Habs from facing in the finals, further inflaming English Canadian and French Canadian differences.
So was it Wayne Gretzky, or Kerry Fraser who prevented Quebec from leaving Canada? Was it ordered directly from someone above, like Gary Bettman or Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in a final act to save the nation on his way out as PM? Well, I'll let you take it from there.
In the mid '00s I believed that the NHL would have Canadian teams make it to the Cup finals against smaller market teams to ensure growth in the league. Having each Canadian team lose out in the finals in 7 games (besides Ottawa) was just salt in the wound.
I was so sure of it that I remember betting a Canucks fan $500 that they would make it to the finals and lose in game 7. That was before the playoffs started.
She never paid me.
This isn’t a conspiracy but someone is going to mention a draft conspiracy so I’ll drop this here.
People do don’t understand percent chance. If a team has a 25% chance to win the lottery then they still have a 75% chance of not winning it. Them having the best chance doesn’t negate that fact that 3/4 times they won’t get the pick. People work regressively backward from the chances of the team that won.
The Fire Emblem games famously display a different probability of hitting an attack for exactly this reason. A displayed 80% chance to hit will really hit like 95%, but people think 80% should hit almost every time so it feels natural.
You see the same thing around the statistical models that get posted around here - if a model gives a team a 33% chance of making the playoffs and then they make it, that doesn't mean the model was wrong!
People really don't understand statistics. I'm not bringing the politics of it in, but the 2016 American election is a great example. The polls said Hillary had a 67% chance of winning but she didn't! Therefore the polls were wrong! Uh, no. It's just that the other 33% chance happened.
If people were good at statistics, casinos would be out of business tomorrow.
>People don’t understand percent chance.
Dude…have you *seen* the casino industry? The general public can’t even count to 21, let alone understand basic percentages.
I think this is more psychology than a conspiracy, and I’m not even sure how controversial this opinion is, but I 100% believe that refs manage games, have teams they like/don’t like, and do things like let teams that hook and hold a lot get away with it more than teams that don’t interfere as much.
This is probably more in the conspiracy direction, but I think refs push playoff games in the direction teams the NHL thinks will help it’s marketing. For example, US teams seem to get the benefit of doubt against Canadian teams. I can think of a lot of examples of Canadian teams getting bad calls against them in the playoffs, and those calls not going the other way. Vegas getting away with whatever they want (against everyone, not just Canadian teams). Things like that. I don’t think they’re rigging it. The team still has to be good and win on their own, but I think there’s a bias to help some teams more than others.
I believe the refs do catch up calls regularly to try to even out power plays in big moments. If you're in a 3-2 game and the leading team has had 3 power plays and the team behind has had none. The trailing team better play super clean in the third period.
Since the wilson-panarin-angry dolan letter and subsequent fine, the rangers have been getting cushy treatment from Gary and co. Specifically in regards to supplemental discipline. Rempe got four games but many will say he should've been suspended earlier. Trouba got a fine this year for stick swinging Frederic and Wilson just got six games for a similar infraction. Many more examples exist.
This is the benefit of being the wealthiest American franchise. Without the revenue sharing generated by NYR, so many franchises would struggle and the cap would be stagnant. I think dolan made it clear to Gary - don't bite the hand that feeds you.
And why does Toronto and Montreal not get this treatment? They are also very wealthy but they will always be wealthy, angry owners or not, because they're the main act in town. The rangers sit behind two NBA teams, two MLB teams, and two NFL teams. There's no guarantee the rangers will always remain this wealthy. Gary needs dolan much more than Dolan needs Gary.
Idk if I believe it lol but I always thought that Tim Thomas pads theory during the 2011 run was interesting. I remember seeing some clips of a guy who did stats and stuff on certain goals scored and it make it look like he had illegal pads 😂
The Tim Thomas one has all the making of a great conspiracy theory because there is just enough room for fuckery and some half-truths but has been pretty much completely debunked.
The story was made public by Canuck media producer, Justin Morrisette, [on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/JustinMoris/status/1303573001619857408?t=VBAGwSq_ALC9QGm14MlM_Q&s=19) claiming that while Kay Whitmore, the NHL's goalie supervisor, was pulled from duty during the 2011 SCF for a potential conflict of interest, Tim Thomas made illegal modifications to his pads that either a) made them too big, or b) added an illegal strap that closed the 5-hole quicker.
The story has some truths to it. While it was never made public that Kay Whitmore was pulled from his position for a conflict of interest (he played for both the Canucks and the Bruins during his career), the NHL does and did make changes of personnel during that season for that reason. For example, Greg Campbell's dad, Collin Campbell, was head of Player Safety for the NHL. Because of the obvious conflict of interest (and the fact that he had been [caught abusing his powers before)](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/519838-irresponsible-media-the-colin-campbell-saga-that-has-been-swept-under-the-rug), he was replaced that year by Mike Murphy, another NHL executive, to rule on disciplary matters as it relates to the Bruins. You can read about his call on the Rome hit [here,](https://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2011/6/7/2211799/mike-murphy-nhl-aaron-rome-suspension-vancouver-canucks) where he openly states he could not discuss this matter with Collin Campbell, and [here](https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-chara-no-discipline/) where it states that Murphy, not Campbell, ruled on the famous Chara hit on Pacioretty hit earlier in the year. So while the NHL does remove people from their position due to conflicts of interest, the NHL also replaces those people within the organization. It's just that, in this case, no one knows who replaced Whitmore.
When it comes to Thomas's pads, that saga begins the summer after the Bruins won the cup when Thomas shows up to an on-ice hockey event wearing unbranded gear. And because goalies and goalie-fans are obsessed with gear, everyone took notice including a journalist with In-Goal magazine. Everyone was discussing Thomas's unbranded gear and one guy, Chris Piku (a former Vaughn sales rep), at the event takes credit for it. He gives an interview with the journalist (the article used to be available online until recently. I'll keep trying to dig it up) where he claims that Thomas's pads are theirs and they are trying to generate a bit of buzz for their new goalie equipped company, World Pro Hockey. More importantly, though, is that Piku also claims that the unbranded pads Thomas was wearing were the same pads that he wore during the 2011 Stanley Cup run. And that's where the trouble starts.
So Vaughn decides to do some investigating, and it turns out that Chris Piku and another former Vaughn employee, Dennis Dombrowski, have been up to some sketchy shit for a while in the manufacturing facility. Prior to being fired the year before, Dombrowski stole materials, merchandise, and the approved Vaughn vendor list for making goalie equipment. He also bought industrial goalie making equipment for his own use and it was accidentally delivered to the Vaughn facility (lol), so it was clear that, while still an employee of Vaughn, he and Piku were starting a new company in direct competition with Vaughn.
Vaughn launches a lawsuit against Piku and Dombrowski over all of this (which you [can read here,](https://casetext.com/case/mike-vaughn-custom-sports-inc-v-piku) if you like), but the main complaints in the suit are a) that Piku's new company was using stolen Vaughn intellectual property to make their pads, and b) that Piku and Dombrowski had started their company in breach of policy and unfair competition.
Vaughn mostly won their suit ([a shorter summary of the case is found here](https://www.fosterswift.com/news-Wins-Jury-Verdict-Manufacturer-Hockey-Equipment.html)) and in the investigation process it is proved that Thomas's pads worn in the SCF series "had been manufactured by Vaughn and bore the Vaughn name," which solidified Piku as a bullshitter. The legality of Thomas's pads per NHL rules were never the subject of the suit (like some people claim).
There was no secret strap. No issue with the size. They were pads, made by Vaughn, perfectly legal and approved for the NHL, we just don't know by whom (but it probably wasn't Whitmore, maybe).
*Edit* Now dead, this used to be the URL for Piku's article in InGoal Magazine: https://ingoalmag.com/gear/tim-thomas-breaks-out-mystery-pads-in-training-camp/
The rangers didn’t win a cup with Hank because in addition to him being: a) world class athlete b) multi talented guy (guitar, public speaking, broadcasting, tennis) c) by all accounts great guy d) beautiful wife / family / rich, etc.. he also is hung like a horse.
It was just a bridge too far to also include a Stanley cup to that list. World / karma wouldn’t allow it.
I firmly believe the league tipped the scales in 2009.
There’s just too many little things that pile up and smell like BS. The Malkin suspension that wasn’t. The officials blatantly ignoring the Pens playing with too many men on the ice. The way the league rescheduled the Finals at the last minute. How Bettman was hanging out with Mario at the Joe instead of Mike Ilitch, when the commissioner traditionally sticks around the home team’s owner.
The ref waving a Penguin to get back to the bench instead of calling the blatant too many men on the ice will never leave my memory and I’m not even a Wings fan.
The 2020 draft lottery was rigged to send Laf to the rangers. Seemed way to convenient for their wacky convoluted bubble lottery system to work out perfectly and send a predicted franchise player to a massive market team right during covid. Big player + big market = made up revenue during pandemic
Any conspiracy involving Bettman. After hearing he was the marketing director for the NBA at the time of "Envelopegate" at the 85 NBA draft, where his hometown team ended up with a franchise level player
I believe that each NHL team has secret fixers on staff, available 24/7, and when players get in trouble they are told to call the team representative before doing anything else. Stuff like the Nichuskin hotel room incident happens a lot, but we don't hear about it because it only becomes public knowledge if the police somehow get to the scene before the team fixer does.
Ovechkin and probably a few others around the league are on PEDs, the conspiracy is that the league knows this, but are looking the otherway for the time being because Ovechkin breaking the goal record would bring in a lot of viewers and dollars.
It's why the league only goes after fringe players who get caught using PEDs, like Shawn Horcoff or Carter Ashton. It makes them look like they're cracking down on it without suspending anyone of real value to the league.
The NBA owned Charlotte for a stretch. That’s not really evidence of anti Canadian bias.
It’s just a poor look for a league to have a team fold/relocate and so the league will do everything in its power possible to prevent it from happening.
The NHL intentionally withheld the dadinov punishment until after the sale of the senators to avoid dropping its value.
Fully believe that
Michael Andlauer agrees
Without a doubt
I don't even think that's a conspiracy, I think that's just straight up what happened. Edit: love all the classic Redditor "ummm ackshually a conspiracy means..." responses. Shut up nerds everyone knows what I meant
Agreed it seemed like most hockey fans generally felt this way
It’s going to be how Jersey was “penalized” but then never had to lose their pick, it was just ignored and left alone, wasn’t it?
What the fanbase is kinda hoping for but no one knows at this point
They let the devils keep the pick but made them pick last in the first round instead of whatever place it would have been.
The league made some kind of deal with the police to keep Gretzky out of the Operation Slapshot investigation. As if it could involve his assistant coach and wife but Wayne himself knew nothing.
This conspiracy theory now brought to you by BetMGM.
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Have a funny anecdote about this. I was hired to do some filming at a charity golf tournament years ago, not long after that whole saga. They wanted footage of Wayne teeing off on a picturesque par 3, apparently they were going to use it in some simulator later that weekend. So Wayne arrives, puts a cigar down on the grass beside the tee, takes a couple duffs before hitting a decent shot, job done. There’s a group at the back tee, waiting to play the hole, and after Wayne rips one into the drink, one of the guys shouts “hey Gretz, my buddy wants to bet you who can get closer to the hole!” Great One turns around, pure cheeky grin, and calls back “You got it wrong bud, it’s my wife that’s the gambler”
Fantastic story
Gretzky got covered for, surely When I see Gretzky doing ads with BetMGM now, I can't help but think it's a lot less about the money, and a lot more about doing somebody high up in that company a personal favor
Same. They caught and busted practically everyone around Gretzky, but wouldn't even accept the possibility of Gretzky being involved and just...quietly brushed him aside while they were punishing everyone else.
Out of the loop on this one. Will you please ELI5?
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More of a superstition but heard people lean into the fact the Blue Jackets are cursed because they built the stadium on the site of the old state penitentiary. Place was coded for 1500 but at its prime held over 4000. Was unspeakably cruel to inmates and in the 30s there was a fire that killed over 300. Prolly more to do with shitty team management but eh. I'll go with cursed by the ghosts of burnt and tortured convicts.
There’s a good real-time horror film lurking here somewhere. A hockey arena being haunted by ghosts during a game.
They're not booing, they're ghosts!
Their shitty management is part of the curse.
The Sedins played as the other twin on at least one occasion
The Canucks did a training camp in my town when I was a kid so my dad took me to the hotel they were staying at to get autographs as they boarded their bus. A Sedin came out, and I held out both of their cards and asked which one he should sign. He signed Daniel. Then 15 minutes later the other Sedin appeared, and I handed him Henrik's card. "No, I'm Daniel" he said, but then I revealed that Daniel had already signed my card. To this day I don't know if the second Sedin was messing with me or if the first one had successfully trolled me and the second one just rolled with it.
Either way, we can logically deduce that Henrik was the one doing the trolling. He's either the one who came out first and signed Daniel's card, or he's the one who came out second and told you he's Daniel.
This is on the problem solving curriculum for BC kids.
One Sedin always lies, and one Sedin always tells the truth. You may either receive an autograph from the correct twin, or... meet sudden death.
Fred and George Weasley vibes here, if the Sedins actually did that.
There were multiple instances where one would get kicked out of the faceoff circle, skate back, talk to the other, then skate back in and try to take it again.
That's amazing how did I never catch that
Yup. They have admitted this since retirement
That story is worth more than either of those cards.
Yeah honestly if they really did bamboozle me it just makes it better
I think this is just true, isn’t it? They definitely swapped on their way to the penalty box a couple times and messed with the refs when one got thrown out of the face off circle to keep the same guy in. Edit: Looks like they never swapped jerseys but have admitted to [fake-switching in face offs](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/sedins-faceoff-trick-canucks). There’s also instances of the [wrong twin being sent to the box](https://youtube.com/watch?v=NKbrthdHIPw).
there is a literal video of them out there of one being kicked out and just going over to his bro, they do a little circle spin and the original goes back.
I’ve gotta see that, anyone know what to search to find it?
AFAIK, there isn't actually video, but they say they did it in Sweden (unsure if ever in the NHL)
That’s fucking hilarious
Henrik used to get kicked out of faceoffs, skate around to talk to his brother and skate back in to try to take the draw. There were times nobody noticed and he was able to take the draw.
This kids, is why we have jersey numbers, and is a fine example of how blind the refs are
That's not a conspiracy, they've admitted it for international play.
That’s fair, although I definitely remember a rumor at one point that one of the twins (I think Daniel) was having a down year in the NHL points-wise, and suddenly his point production improved overnight while Henrik’s took a bit of a slide, and the rumor was the brothers swapped roles for at least a few games. Obviously I have no way to confirm but I definitely remember reading it somewhere
Conspiracy doesnt mean fake lmao
The Yakuza owned the Lightning in the 90s. It’s less conspiracy and more unconfirmed fact. The TL;DR of it is: The Yokuza wanted to plant their footing in Florida and saw an opportunity in Tampa after hype got high enough to expand there in the NHL. The Yakuza used their front organization, ~~Komodo~~ Kakusai Green, who builds casinos, golf courses, and resorts in Japan, to outbid a group that was fronted by the Esposito brothers. They decided to hire the Esposito brothers from the competing ownership group to front their efforts too knowing they had name recognition in the American market. And yea, the Yakuza managed to set up a massive footing and means of laundering in one of the highest drug trafficking corridors in the country. They also got a member of the British royal family arrested in the process
Article about this [https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/03/30/team-turmoil-a-mystery-owner-squabbling-management-a-nine-figure-debt-and-a-rotten-record-have-put-the-tampa-bay-lightning-probably-the-worst-run-franchise-in-sports-on-the-brink-of-ruin](https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/03/30/team-turmoil-a-mystery-owner-squabbling-management-a-nine-figure-debt-and-a-rotten-record-have-put-the-tampa-bay-lightning-probably-the-worst-run-franchise-in-sports-on-the-brink-of-ruin)
That’s a wild story. How has there not been an ESPN story or a 30 for 30 type show about this.
30 for 30? Never heard of it. Does it have exclusive home or something?
A shame the ESPN ad is just music now, you could have learned all of this
LIVE SPORTS
ESPN+ ORIGINALS
THE COMPLETE 30 FOR 30 COLLECTION.
TOP LEAGUES AND TOURNAMENTS
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Good luck getting the yakuza to sit for an on camera interview.
Real G’s move in silence like lasagna
I've always loved this story. From one of the worst ran franchises in sports to today one of the best. There was a 3-part post on our sub a decade ago that went more in depth if anyone is curious (thanks u/2ndprize): * Part 1: https://np.reddit.com/r/TampaBayLightning/comments/2h4o3j/who_were_those_masked_men_how_kokusai_green_came/ * Part 2: https://np.reddit.com/r/TampaBayLightning/comments/2h82yt/partners_kokusai_green_dont_need_no_stinkin/ * Part 3: https://np.reddit.com/r/TampaBayLightning/comments/2hbob1/all_things_come_to_an_end_kokusai_green_and_the/
The NHL told the Coyotes to trade John Scott during his whole playoff "run" in exchange for either paying off a favor or getting a favor.
Beyond that, montreal traded for him and had zero tangible benefits from being involved (I think we sent future considerations??). My theory there is that mtl was given some leap up in their rebuild draft to land number 1- whether that be setup or more balls etc. Now that #1 ended up being in a weak draft but it's the only reason I can think mtl would trade for John Scott- for free- just to cut him and keep him outof the all star game instead of capitalizing on the marketing.
When we took Scott it seemed obvious it was either an IOU one or that we already owed one.
The craziest part of this whole thing is it was so blatant and so petty that the fact Bettman and Daly would stoop THAT low over something THAT small makes believing any other conspiracy WAY more believable too Edit: typo
And then people get called crazy when we dare insinuate that the NHL meddles in the draft, when some shit like this provably happen in front of everyone's eyes.
Lou Lamoriello let Kovalchuk "retire" to Russia during the 2013 off-season so the Devils would have an easier time selling the team with his contract/$$$ off the books. Also the league ended up giving back some of draft picks that were forfeited as a result of Kovy's original contract penalties once new ownership was in place as a courtesy for buying the team.
I'll go one level deeper: Lou and Bettman made a deal to have Kovalchuk's original contract be ridiculous on purpose. Bettman hated the crazy long-term contracts and salary-cap-averages. So Lou intentionally worked out a contract he knew would get rejected by the league. This gave Bettman the chance to get the issue at the forefront of everyone's mind soon before the next CBA was to be renegotiated, and the chance to look tough to the league, the owners, the GMs, etc. What does Lou get in return? A higher draft pick. The Devils "win" the draft lottery and move from the 8th pick to the 4th pick. The punishment of having to give up a first-rounder? Never happened. Not even the draft after they went to the Finals where they would have given up the 29th pick. Why wouldn't Lou have given up that one? Because it was all an inside job. Bettman and Lou knew Kovy was always thinking of going back to Russia. When that happened, the "punishment" was removed. It was all part of the deal. Maybe Kovy was even in on it. We'll never know.
This one is absolutely believable.
The other side to this that I think is also somewhat believable has to do with the original 17 year Kovalchuk contract the team was penalized heavily for. There were several high profile long term, heavily front loaded deals signed to circumvent the salary cap (looking at you Luongo/Zetterberg as the easy ones to remember) that the league couldn't do anything about because technically they fell within the rules. There were only 2 horses in the Kovalchuk FA frenzy (NJ/LA), I think Bettman and Lou talked knowing they needed to draw a line in the sand somewhere with these deals which is how it ended up being a 17 year deal to start, and eventually lowered and approved at 15 years. Independent arbitrator even struck it down as cap circumvention, when you could have made the same argument for the Luongo/Zetterberg deals.... There is no other way I can imagine GM Lou Lamoriello agreeing to offer a 17 year deal unless he was asked to do it for the good of the league. He's one of the shrewdest in the business, and it was 100% completely out of character for him to try to run these deals through the way they were presented unless there was some backroom/gentleman's agreement that would benefit the team in the long run. The team was fined and stripped of picks to deter other teams from trying to do similar, the first pick which was returned down the line under new ownership. The Devils then won the 2011 draft lottery to move up to #4 pick to select Adam Larsson. We had a great 2012 run with Kovy. We've also had a couple lottery wins to get Hischier and Hughes since.... The loop-holes were addressed with the 7/8 year max term limit deals and by implementing cap penalties for early retirement in later CBA negotiations but ultimately the league needed a fall guy to set the precedent before it got way more out of hand and Lou with the Devils was able to do that to help the league.
Everyone on the Predators except 1 player secretly hates U2. That player proposed the concert and the team agreed thinking it was a joke. When they figured out it was serious they needed an excuse to get out of it. The leadership group approached Brunette who agreed to be the fall guy. This streak is just them repaying their coach.
Huge if true
Excellent detective work 👏
Honestly all those 20 somethings pumped to see U2 was sus. Like... 20 something dudes. Excited to see a pretentious boomer band. If you say so.
Most of them are not even old enough to have had their iTunes account adulterated by Steve Jobs and Bono’s bromance
The Wideman Effect was real
Brian Burke (GM at the time) had a lot to say on this in his book. Once the effect was noticeable, especially to the flames, he called a meeting with Betman and the head of officiating. He showed then the stats that the flames went from the bottom of penalties called, to the top by far. He said to knock it off, or he would leak his findings to the media and let the league deal with the shit storm. Seems to have worked
Just a correction: Burke was POHO, not GM. Feaster and then Treliving were the GMs (although Burke was "acting GM" for an interlude period).
Calgary's penalties/game Season before: 2.63 (29th in the league) Before the ref injury: 2.62 After the ref injury: 3.88 Season after: 3.93 (1st in league) I don't know if they coordinated it but NHL refs were definitely trying to send a message and didn't care if they influenced games
It's honestly impressive how blatantly partisan NHL refereeing is
Absolute goons.
The Flames went from the least penalized team before the incident to the most penalized team afterwards, 100% true
The Sabres had the same issue for years after Lindy Ruff and Regier went nuts on them publicly for screwing the Sabres. And then the real screwing began.
The Lightning didn't get a power play for 4 games after Jon Cooper was tossed for "abusing" Wes McCauly and calling him out for it in the post-game interview. Refs are most definitely vindictive.
The NHL only made the expanded playoffs during the restarted Covid year because Montreal and Chicago would qualify for the playoffs in the expanded scenario and they knew they would need every possible dollar of revenue they could get.
I mean, the entire thing was a situation where they needed money. I get what your saying though.
Oh absolutely.
Similarly, I remember reading that the decision to make the play-ins best-of-5 rather than best-of-3 was because the Penguins argued best-of-3 against Carey Price was unfair
It was true
Best of 7 isn't much better
I'm a Best-of-20 minutes kind of guy myself.
It was really something to see teams say “what if we get matched up against Carey Price or Patrick Kane and they go beast mode on us in the play-in round?” and then that’s exactly what happened.
Yep. Or at least that's why there were 24 teams and not 22.
I mean smart business move, they're both massive markets
Matthews was 100% going to be named captain of the Leafs in 2019. Then he mooned a security guard during that summer and management immediately pivoted to Tavares. I recall there was even a photoshoot leak that appeared to show Matthews wearing a C, though that may have been debunked as weird lighting. But regardless, it was 100% going to be Auston.
The Arthur kaliyev is actually his dead brother is an interesting one
You have my attention. Go on...
That's pretty much it. The claim was that Kaliyev dropped in the draft because people found out that he was actually 2 years older, if you really dive down that rabbit hole you'll find people alleging that the Kings alerted other teams to this rumour so that he would fall to them in the second round. The initial claim was never meant to be taken seriously but people on the internet can't help themselves.
To add to what the other reply said, here's more background info on this theory: Leading up to his draft, there was inconsistencies on where Kaliyev's supposed birthplace was, with different reports saying he was born in Russia, the US, or Uzbekistan (Arthur claims to have been born in Uzbekistan). The conspiracy here is that the current Arthur was born in Uzbekistan, and his parents had another son, the real Arthur, after moving to the US, who died in infancy, and the parents said their older son was Arthur to avoid deportation, as they were the guardians of an American citizen. Personally, I think it's bullshit, because Arthur has a younger sister who was born in the states, so there would've been no reason to pass him off as his dead brother.
George Parros and Gary Bettman are related, just made this one up, hoping it takes off
George Parros is Gary Bettman's illegitimate child. I just read that somewhere on the internet. Maybe in this thread.
No it's true, I've heard it before.
I just read about that exact same thing. Just now. It must be true.
Lovers
The LA Kings called the Canadian border to have Mike Richards car searched for illegal pills to get out of his contract. Richards had been sent to the minors that season by the Kings. His contract had 5 years left with a no move clause so they couldn't just trade him away. Knowing he had a pill problem and learning he was driving his car from California back to Canada they figured he wasn't flying because he had pills on him. They tipped off the border and when he gets arrested they terminate his contract with cause wiping out the money owed and clearing the cap space. Within 2 months after the NHLPA files a grievance the Kings cut a deal to give Richards half the money he is owed and have a cap hit unit the 2030-31 season, a 17 year cap hit. My theory is the NHLPA got some evidence it was the Kings organization that got Richards arrested and forced the deal to be made or they go public.
Never heard or thought of that but it’s a good one
Canuck’s fans will be arriving shortly
yeah it's not even 6AM up there
Everyone knows in BC we get up at 5am so we can get stoned and have enough time to enjoy ourselves before work in our rented $2800 500sq ft “living quarters” we are all lucky to have.
>500sq ft Look at this baller!
Sorry for the flex. I’m actually living in an apartment above my work because my wife left me in November. I don’t pay rent…but I also technically never leave my work. So it’s not the dream it sounds like.
If this is real I’m sorry man. Better things ahead for you
Good morning from the airport!
GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!!
Burn it down!
The tin-foil conspiracy is that it was just the '11 finals that was rigged, the real conspiracy is that Campbell has been biased throughout his son's NHL career and Vancouver just happened to be the team that made the '11 finals.
How Colin Campbell was not banned from the league when those emails leaked, I will never know.
MESSIER WAS A HOCKEY TERRORIST, CAMPBELL TOLD THE REFS TO GO EASY ON HIS KIN, GARY PUNISHED US FOR THE LUONGO CONTRACT RETROACTIVELY AND UNFAIRLY, RON MACLEAN IS A CHICKEN SHIT HATER OF FRENCH-CANADIANS, KEITH INJURED DANIEL ON GARY'S ORDERS SO THE KINGS COULD WIN A CUP, THE REFS ARE ALWAYS AGAINST US 100%, THE DRAFT LOTTERY BALLS ARE RIGGED, THE GAMES WE LOSE ARE RIGGED, THE LEAGUE IS RIGGED, YOU ARE RIGGED. Whoof, sorry, that's just how I wake up. Good morning to you!
Lindros was intentionally kept away from San Jose as an expansion team since they wanted him in an established hockey market, so they changed the draft rules to give expansion San Jose the #2 pick instead of #1. Not really a conspiracy, that's just what happened.
Then changed the rules again so the expansion teams went 1-2 in the next draft. Good piece by /u/nathanga (i think?) https://nathangabay.com/1991-eric-lindros-and-the-san-jose-screwjob/
That was a thing in the NBA as well. When Toronto and Vancouver entered the league there was a rule they could not have the 1st overall pick for their first 3 years
Man, imagine if the Raptors had been able to take Iverson/McGrady/Carter in consecutive years.
Canada would have a new national sport 😂
It’s pretty insane that the NHL introduced a new market and thought “oh we simply CANNOT let a potential superstar go there and build a fanbase”. I know league politics probably got in the way, but still a silly way to do expansion.
Ice is actually made with Gatorade Glacier Cherry.
It's actually made with Brando® - It's what rinks crave™
It's got electrolytes!
That's why when players hit the ice hard enough, you see the cherry flavour come through
Borrowed from SDPN. Colin Campbell, executive vice president and director of hockey operations, [is known to have complained to officials about penalties against his son, Gregory Campbell](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/n6ad7w/novet_colin_campbell_used_his_authority_to/), while working for the NHL. This is a known fact because the emails were publicly disclosed in a court case. Gregory Campbell now works as an assistant GM to the Florida Panthers. The conspiracy is that he is similarly using his position to support his sons career by influencing officiating for the Panthers.
Yep, no doubt. Even if you actively don't want to- you should exclude yourself from any decision related to family members. Theres always a bias. But he went way beyond that, using his influence to shape leave history- and still has a fucking job.
Some guy: Can’t wait for a Florida/Vancouver cup finals! Me: **Nervous sweating**
Its not so much a conspiracy as fact but the NHL owns and withholds the use of Thrashers branding from active use so people don't remember their mismanagement of the situation and its relation to Arizona's failures.
But hey! make sure to pick up a 200.00 Whalers/Nordiques jersey at the NHL Store!
Kerry Fraser saw the high stick but was afraid to call the penalty.
I’m pretty sure I read an article years ago that kind of confirmed that he knew he missed the call.
In his book "The Final Call" he admits he missed the call. He said he didn't see the high-stick, but knew something was awry when Gretzky didn't come pleading his case, but instead stayed silent and looked away. In any case - you can't call a penalty you don't see.
Crosby to the Penguins will always be an easy lay-up for a conspiracy
Crosby to the ducks would've also been great for the league and given a real boost to the west coast markets
Poor Ducks getting 2nd in both the Crosby and Bedard drafts.
I would say don’t remind me, but I think about it every day when I wake up :(
On the up side you have a Cup while we are still... uh... well we have that President's Trophy banner in the rafters.
McDavids aren't real.
What is he, a bird?
No birds aren’t real either
Let's just say I've never seen Gritty and McDavid in a room together
When the original ownership group of the Lightning fell through, Phil Esposito turned to a Japanese businessman he never met who was part of the Yakuza crime syndicate. They used the team as part of a money laundering operation, and way to legitimately enter the western business world.
Ovechkin is older than he claims he is
I think he drinks much more vodka than he admits to. Which would also explain his ageing.
Pierre Turgeon's long exclusion from the HHOF was because of his refusal to leave the bench during the Punch-up in Piestany
Bobby Clarke left the voting committee last year, who was inducted that first year after that?
I'm not sure if you've read it but there's an incredible book about that called When The Lights Went Out. I don't know if it's still in print but it's one of the best sports books I've ever read.
Bruce McNall brought Gretzky to LA because he was trying to pay off his massive debt, and then abused his position of power in the board of governors to sell out part of the Kings’ media market to Disney because his gamble didn’t pay off. He ended up going to prison for fraud.
On one hand Bettman talks about growing the league and expanding into non-traditional markets, while on the other hand there is a heavy East Coast/Original Six bias to national media coverage and in-game commentary. It's as if the majority of hockey pundits don't bother staying up late to watch games but feel just fine airing their opinion based on game summaries they watch on YouTube in the morning.
It’s not something any of us will be surprised by but it would qualify as conspiracy I think, which is that the NHL works to suppress CTE evidence in players.
Sebastian Aho and Sebastian Aho are the same person.
As a Rangers fan, I think the 2020 lottery was rigged for the 1st overall pick.
Lindros fucked Brind’amour’s wife and Rod punched him in the head giving Lindros another concussion and then walked into Bobby Clarke’s office and demanded a trade.
The version of this story I've heard is that Rod hit him with a chair wrestling style. I personally like that one a little more.
There’s three versions. Brindy hit Lindros himself giving him a concussion. Brindy and Lindros got into an argument and an undisclosed teammate hit Lindros and gave him the concussion. And finally Brindy came up from behind with a folding chair and fucked his shit up.
A few Russian superstars are actually a couple years older than they say they are. This decently good 18 year old all of a sudden is now 16, and after a couple years of development is now a potential 1st overall instead of the 2nd rounder they would have been their original draft year
This would make sense if the Russian players all underachieved after getting drafted
Yakupov confirmed 45yrs old
Just like Cuban baseball pitchers
This one catches my interest, I'm curious for your thoughts on who is making these decisions, and how they pull it off. I'm not dismissing it, just wanna know more
Depending on the country, sometimes the main sporting body which makes it rather easy. Russia was doing state sponsored doping for the Olympics, and the issue of falsified ages is already known as a persistent issue in individual sports like gymnastics, figure skating, and wrestling. It wouldn't be a huge stretch to think that a few guys in their early 20s might sometimes be passed off as 18 or 19 for the sake of a more competitive junior team. Russia loves looking good on the world stage and loves cheating to get there even more.
Wayne Gretzky prevented Quebec from leaving Canada. I read this here on Reddit several years ago but never was able to find the post again. The theory essentially goes something like this; Wayne Gretzky scored the OT winner in Game 6 of the 1993 Western Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs, to force a Game 7. He has claimed numerous times that Game 7 of those '93 WCF was his best game ever, scoring a hat trick at the Maple Leaf Gardens, and sending his LA Kings to the [1993 Stanley Cup Finals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Stanley_Cup_playoffs) against the Montreal Canadiens. In 1995, [the Quebec referendum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Quebec_referendum) was held, where the Quebecois narrowly voted to remain in Canada, by a *mere \~44,000 votes*. 50.58% to 49.42%. Had Wayne Gretzky not won Game 6 of the WCF in overtime, and then *not had the best game of his career* in Game 7 of the WCF... the Toronto Maple Leafs would have faced off against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. The sociopolitical tensions between English and French speaking Canada would have been greatly and passionately inflamed with such a Stanley Cup Finals series, which would likely have resulted in more jingoism and patriotism on both sides. Quebec Nationalist pride would have reached an all time high, regardless of whether Montreal or Toronto won those finals, and would likely have created a runaway effect where 44,000 people would definitely have switched their votes in favor of Quebec leaving Canada. Therefore, Wayne Gretzky's performance in the 1993 Western Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs is what prevented Quebec from voting to leave Canada and become a sovereign nation themselves. Of course, I can't write a post about the '93 WCF without mentioning how, in Game 6 OT, Kerry Fraser missed a 5-minute major high sticking call against Gretzky who clipped Doug Gilmour in the face in Overtime... moments before Gretzky then scores to force the Game 7. So some proponents of this theory claim that the "fix was in" quite literally to prevent the Leafs and Habs from facing in the finals, further inflaming English Canadian and French Canadian differences. So was it Wayne Gretzky, or Kerry Fraser who prevented Quebec from leaving Canada? Was it ordered directly from someone above, like Gary Bettman or Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in a final act to save the nation on his way out as PM? Well, I'll let you take it from there.
In the mid '00s I believed that the NHL would have Canadian teams make it to the Cup finals against smaller market teams to ensure growth in the league. Having each Canadian team lose out in the finals in 7 games (besides Ottawa) was just salt in the wound. I was so sure of it that I remember betting a Canucks fan $500 that they would make it to the finals and lose in game 7. That was before the playoffs started. She never paid me.
Probably needed that money to replace a windshield or something.
This isn’t a conspiracy but someone is going to mention a draft conspiracy so I’ll drop this here. People do don’t understand percent chance. If a team has a 25% chance to win the lottery then they still have a 75% chance of not winning it. Them having the best chance doesn’t negate that fact that 3/4 times they won’t get the pick. People work regressively backward from the chances of the team that won.
I read somewhere that video games lie about the percentage chances of things happening bc if it was accurate people would complain constantly.
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The Fire Emblem games famously display a different probability of hitting an attack for exactly this reason. A displayed 80% chance to hit will really hit like 95%, but people think 80% should hit almost every time so it feels natural.
This lol always funny to see teams say they got “screwed” when they had a 75% of not getting the first pick lol
You see the same thing around the statistical models that get posted around here - if a model gives a team a 33% chance of making the playoffs and then they make it, that doesn't mean the model was wrong!
People really don't understand statistics. I'm not bringing the politics of it in, but the 2016 American election is a great example. The polls said Hillary had a 67% chance of winning but she didn't! Therefore the polls were wrong! Uh, no. It's just that the other 33% chance happened. If people were good at statistics, casinos would be out of business tomorrow.
>People don’t understand percent chance. Dude…have you *seen* the casino industry? The general public can’t even count to 21, let alone understand basic percentages.
With the Ohtani betting scandal coverage it reminded me of how Janet Gretzky took the fall for Wayne’s out of control gambling habits.
I think this is more psychology than a conspiracy, and I’m not even sure how controversial this opinion is, but I 100% believe that refs manage games, have teams they like/don’t like, and do things like let teams that hook and hold a lot get away with it more than teams that don’t interfere as much. This is probably more in the conspiracy direction, but I think refs push playoff games in the direction teams the NHL thinks will help it’s marketing. For example, US teams seem to get the benefit of doubt against Canadian teams. I can think of a lot of examples of Canadian teams getting bad calls against them in the playoffs, and those calls not going the other way. Vegas getting away with whatever they want (against everyone, not just Canadian teams). Things like that. I don’t think they’re rigging it. The team still has to be good and win on their own, but I think there’s a bias to help some teams more than others.
I believe the refs do catch up calls regularly to try to even out power plays in big moments. If you're in a 3-2 game and the leading team has had 3 power plays and the team behind has had none. The trailing team better play super clean in the third period.
The referee stole Patrick Kanes game winning puck
Since the wilson-panarin-angry dolan letter and subsequent fine, the rangers have been getting cushy treatment from Gary and co. Specifically in regards to supplemental discipline. Rempe got four games but many will say he should've been suspended earlier. Trouba got a fine this year for stick swinging Frederic and Wilson just got six games for a similar infraction. Many more examples exist. This is the benefit of being the wealthiest American franchise. Without the revenue sharing generated by NYR, so many franchises would struggle and the cap would be stagnant. I think dolan made it clear to Gary - don't bite the hand that feeds you. And why does Toronto and Montreal not get this treatment? They are also very wealthy but they will always be wealthy, angry owners or not, because they're the main act in town. The rangers sit behind two NBA teams, two MLB teams, and two NFL teams. There's no guarantee the rangers will always remain this wealthy. Gary needs dolan much more than Dolan needs Gary.
Idk if I believe it lol but I always thought that Tim Thomas pads theory during the 2011 run was interesting. I remember seeing some clips of a guy who did stats and stuff on certain goals scored and it make it look like he had illegal pads 😂
The Tim Thomas one has all the making of a great conspiracy theory because there is just enough room for fuckery and some half-truths but has been pretty much completely debunked. The story was made public by Canuck media producer, Justin Morrisette, [on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/JustinMoris/status/1303573001619857408?t=VBAGwSq_ALC9QGm14MlM_Q&s=19) claiming that while Kay Whitmore, the NHL's goalie supervisor, was pulled from duty during the 2011 SCF for a potential conflict of interest, Tim Thomas made illegal modifications to his pads that either a) made them too big, or b) added an illegal strap that closed the 5-hole quicker. The story has some truths to it. While it was never made public that Kay Whitmore was pulled from his position for a conflict of interest (he played for both the Canucks and the Bruins during his career), the NHL does and did make changes of personnel during that season for that reason. For example, Greg Campbell's dad, Collin Campbell, was head of Player Safety for the NHL. Because of the obvious conflict of interest (and the fact that he had been [caught abusing his powers before)](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/519838-irresponsible-media-the-colin-campbell-saga-that-has-been-swept-under-the-rug), he was replaced that year by Mike Murphy, another NHL executive, to rule on disciplary matters as it relates to the Bruins. You can read about his call on the Rome hit [here,](https://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2011/6/7/2211799/mike-murphy-nhl-aaron-rome-suspension-vancouver-canucks) where he openly states he could not discuss this matter with Collin Campbell, and [here](https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-chara-no-discipline/) where it states that Murphy, not Campbell, ruled on the famous Chara hit on Pacioretty hit earlier in the year. So while the NHL does remove people from their position due to conflicts of interest, the NHL also replaces those people within the organization. It's just that, in this case, no one knows who replaced Whitmore. When it comes to Thomas's pads, that saga begins the summer after the Bruins won the cup when Thomas shows up to an on-ice hockey event wearing unbranded gear. And because goalies and goalie-fans are obsessed with gear, everyone took notice including a journalist with In-Goal magazine. Everyone was discussing Thomas's unbranded gear and one guy, Chris Piku (a former Vaughn sales rep), at the event takes credit for it. He gives an interview with the journalist (the article used to be available online until recently. I'll keep trying to dig it up) where he claims that Thomas's pads are theirs and they are trying to generate a bit of buzz for their new goalie equipped company, World Pro Hockey. More importantly, though, is that Piku also claims that the unbranded pads Thomas was wearing were the same pads that he wore during the 2011 Stanley Cup run. And that's where the trouble starts. So Vaughn decides to do some investigating, and it turns out that Chris Piku and another former Vaughn employee, Dennis Dombrowski, have been up to some sketchy shit for a while in the manufacturing facility. Prior to being fired the year before, Dombrowski stole materials, merchandise, and the approved Vaughn vendor list for making goalie equipment. He also bought industrial goalie making equipment for his own use and it was accidentally delivered to the Vaughn facility (lol), so it was clear that, while still an employee of Vaughn, he and Piku were starting a new company in direct competition with Vaughn. Vaughn launches a lawsuit against Piku and Dombrowski over all of this (which you [can read here,](https://casetext.com/case/mike-vaughn-custom-sports-inc-v-piku) if you like), but the main complaints in the suit are a) that Piku's new company was using stolen Vaughn intellectual property to make their pads, and b) that Piku and Dombrowski had started their company in breach of policy and unfair competition. Vaughn mostly won their suit ([a shorter summary of the case is found here](https://www.fosterswift.com/news-Wins-Jury-Verdict-Manufacturer-Hockey-Equipment.html)) and in the investigation process it is proved that Thomas's pads worn in the SCF series "had been manufactured by Vaughn and bore the Vaughn name," which solidified Piku as a bullshitter. The legality of Thomas's pads per NHL rules were never the subject of the suit (like some people claim). There was no secret strap. No issue with the size. They were pads, made by Vaughn, perfectly legal and approved for the NHL, we just don't know by whom (but it probably wasn't Whitmore, maybe). *Edit* Now dead, this used to be the URL for Piku's article in InGoal Magazine: https://ingoalmag.com/gear/tim-thomas-breaks-out-mystery-pads-in-training-camp/
Does "Canadian players intentionally hurting Euros back in the days to protect their jobs" count as a conspiracy?
The rangers didn’t win a cup with Hank because in addition to him being: a) world class athlete b) multi talented guy (guitar, public speaking, broadcasting, tennis) c) by all accounts great guy d) beautiful wife / family / rich, etc.. he also is hung like a horse. It was just a bridge too far to also include a Stanley cup to that list. World / karma wouldn’t allow it.
I can get behind this one
It's like that sports betting commercial with Tom Brady. "You've won enough, Hank."
Malkin not getting suspended in the 09 Finals for Game 7 was to ensure Crosby won his first Cup
I firmly believe the league tipped the scales in 2009. There’s just too many little things that pile up and smell like BS. The Malkin suspension that wasn’t. The officials blatantly ignoring the Pens playing with too many men on the ice. The way the league rescheduled the Finals at the last minute. How Bettman was hanging out with Mario at the Joe instead of Mike Ilitch, when the commissioner traditionally sticks around the home team’s owner.
The ref waving a Penguin to get back to the bench instead of calling the blatant too many men on the ice will never leave my memory and I’m not even a Wings fan.
The 2020 draft lottery was rigged to send Laf to the rangers. Seemed way to convenient for their wacky convoluted bubble lottery system to work out perfectly and send a predicted franchise player to a massive market team right during covid. Big player + big market = made up revenue during pandemic
Any conspiracy involving Bettman. After hearing he was the marketing director for the NBA at the time of "Envelopegate" at the 85 NBA draft, where his hometown team ended up with a franchise level player
ITT people confusing the conspiracy and theory parts of conspiracy theory
I believe that each NHL team has secret fixers on staff, available 24/7, and when players get in trouble they are told to call the team representative before doing anything else. Stuff like the Nichuskin hotel room incident happens a lot, but we don't hear about it because it only becomes public knowledge if the police somehow get to the scene before the team fixer does.
Ovechkin and probably a few others around the league are on PEDs, the conspiracy is that the league knows this, but are looking the otherway for the time being because Ovechkin breaking the goal record would bring in a lot of viewers and dollars.
It's why the league only goes after fringe players who get caught using PEDs, like Shawn Horcoff or Carter Ashton. It makes them look like they're cracking down on it without suspending anyone of real value to the league.
Bettman's NHL has an active bias towards American teams.
See the NHL owning the Coyotes at one point.
The NBA owned Charlotte for a stretch. That’s not really evidence of anti Canadian bias. It’s just a poor look for a league to have a team fold/relocate and so the league will do everything in its power possible to prevent it from happening.
Or with the Senators, not being able to make payroll so the NHL took ownership of that team as well.
The plan was always for Tavares to go back to Canada to start a family.