No conspiracy. Just complete idiocy.
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
You could tell the Flames were doing their best to play disciplined. They took so many chops in faceoff circles, after the whistles without any retaliation. They were rewarded for that as they should've been (though some people love game management by the refs, but not me). But the high stick was just incompetence on the part of the NHL.
|