Brad Marchand And The Florida Panthers Are Facing Major Backlash For Rigging 1st-Round Playoff Matchup
Photo credit: Sports Illustrated
Former Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand, and the Florida Panthers are facing some serious backlash from fans after reportedly trying to rig their first-round playoff matchup.
It looked like the Florida Panthers were going to win the Atlantic Division this year, especially after going out and acquiring Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins during the NHL trade deadline.
Instead, the Panthers have been dropping in the standings, and are now just two points ahead of the Ottawa Senators for third in the Atlantic Division.
Many believe that the Florida Panthers are doing this on purpose so that they can have an easier first round matchup as they would face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first-round, instead of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
During their recent game on Sunday, the Panthers made their matters worse and have been facing some serious backlash.
Brad Marchand and The Florida Panthers Facing Backlash
On Sunday, the Florida Panthers decided to sit several of their regular players, and fans viewed this as them trying to throw games to further their point of them trying to rig their first-round matchup.
Some of these players were out due to injuries, but that wasn't the case for the entire lineup.
Florida decided to ice this lineup against a divisional rival instead.
Luostarinen - Lundell - Marchand
Verhaeghe - Rodrigues - Puljujarvi
Greer - Nosek - Gadjovich
Samoskevich - Asplund - Boqvist
Verhaeghe - Rodrigues - Puljujarvi
Greer - Nosek - Gadjovich
Samoskevich - Asplund - Boqvist
Mikkola - Jones
Megna - Balinskis
Kiersted - Schmidt
Megna - Balinskis
Kiersted - Schmidt
Vanecek
After this news ended up hitting social media, it blew up and even former NHL player and analyst Paul Bissonnette added fuel to the fire during a segment on TNT:
"Somehow Florida, a great team, is gonna keep losing down the stretch?" asked Bissonnette while wearing a tinfoil hat on air. "$49 million right now is sitting in a press box. This is an inside job and Gary Bettman needs to look into it."
Bissonnette also went on to say that Gary Bettman needs to launch an investigation into the Florida Panthers and their head coach:
"He needs to do his job and look into what Paul Maurice are trying to do to my Toronto Maple Leafs," added Bissonnette. "Gary do your job!"
Previously on Bruins Insider
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 8 | 1663 ANSWERS Brad Marchand And The Florida Panthers Are Facing Major Backlash For Rigging 1st-Round Playoff Matchup Do you think Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers are purposely throwing games? | ||
| Yes | 866 | 52.1 % |
| No | 797 | 47.9 % |
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