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“It’s only cheating if you get caught” isn’t exactly an ethos a moral person should live by, but there’s obviously some truth to the maxim. That’s especially true when it comes to sports, as many athletes have some incentive to bend the rules to give themselves a competitive advantage.
Over the course of the current NHL season, Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray has appeared to embrace that mentality based on what he’s repeatedly pulled in the crease over the course of the campaign.
The way the NHL keeps nets in place has evolved over the years. While the goal was initially anchored with the help of spikes in the posts that kept it firmly planted in the ice, a number of incidents highlighted the dangers of having guys on skates collide with a fairly immovable object at high speeds. Those setbacks spawned a short-lived magnetized solution before the more forgiving “Marsh pegs” that are currently used became the standard.
While those pegs have helped cut down on injuries, they’ve also made it easier for the net to become dislodged. Hockey rules state that play should be called dead whenever that happens (although there are some exceptions that allow a goal to count as well as penalties to be issued in cases stemming from malicious intent), but plenty of teams have seen momentum killed or had a score overturned due to some controversial rulings.
That includes three separate incidents that occurred when the Wild faced off against the Maple Leafs in November, as Murray managed to arouse a ton of suspicion after the net game off of its moorings multiple occasions (including two that occurred while Minnesota was in the offensive zone).
Here's the three instances today where Matt Murray had the net mysteriously dislodge on him from overhead (r @RussoHockey) pic.twitter.com/lap6pbIzhP
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 25, 2022
That’s not the only time Murray has engaged in those kinds of shenanigans, and on Monday, hockey reporter Mike Russo claimed the NHL is keeping a close eye on the Toronto netminder after yet another video of him messing with the net made the rounds.
It was noticed in the Situation Room last night that Murray was wiggling the net during TV timeout. League is actually testing nets coming up but also clipping goalies taking nets off moorings and bringing examples to GM’s Meeting in March. Murray’s net came off twice last night https://t.co/03jNXXDo7U
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 9, 2023
Russo covers the Wild and seems to have a bit of an axe to grind based on what transpired during the aforementioned contest. While that video appears to show Murray actually trying to fix the net while the Leafs were on the forecheck, Russo asserted he talked with sources who said the goalie hasn’t exactly garnered much favor with the league due to his pattern of behavior.
I’m not sour. The league is sour about it and with him specifically
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 9, 2023
The NHL is constantly monitoring various trends and routinely tweaks the rulebook in an attempt to promote a competitive atmosphere, and it seems like there’s a good chance they’ll be figuring out some way to address this in the offseason.