Insider accuses the NHL and its referees of “blatant discrimination,” against one player and his team.

Very strong words from one NHL insider.

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HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Insider accuses the NHL and its referees of “blatant discrimination,” against one player and his team.
Phillippe Bouchard-CSM-Zuma

A National Hockey League insider has just lobbed some pretty serious accusations at the National Hockey League and perhaps more importantly at the National Hockey League's officiating crews.

On Sunday during a game between the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers insider Larry Brooks took to social media to call out the National Hockey League and the officials on the ice. Specifically Brooks appeared to take issue with the way the league and its officials have treated forward Brendan Lemieux, the son of notorious former NHL player Claude Lemieux. Brooks was not pulling any punches here either calling the league's treatment of the player a disgrace and going so far as to suggest that it damaged the credibility of the game as a whole.

Here is Brooks comment unedited and in full:

NHL and its referees must answer for blatant discrimination against Brendan Lemieux. It is an ongoing disgrace that undermines the integrity of the game.

Now it is hard to say exactly which incident sparked the outrage from the Rangers insider but as is often the case with Brendan Lemieux there were several incidents in which he was involved in during today's game. Unquestionably the most hilarious moment involving the Rangers agitator was an incident in which he challenged veteran Erik Gudbranson to a fight, only to skate away once Gudbranson had dropped the gloves.

Later in the game Lemieux was awarded a 2 minute minor as well as a 10 minute game misconduct for his actions during this sequence. 

I suspect that it was that call that set off Brooks, however it may have also been due to the stick work of Anaheim's Josh Manson during this particular segment of the game.

I doubt that the NHL is going to put much stock into what one journalist has to say about their officiating, but nonetheless it is not everyday that we here a well established and well respected hockey insider like Larry Brooks speak so passionately and so critically about the league or its officiating. Do you agree with the take from Brooks here? Is Brendan Lemieux being unfairly persecuted by the NHL? Is his father's legacy potentially playing a factor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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