Pat Maroon was unhappy on Monday after the Tampa Bay Lightning contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The veteran spoke straight from the heart, and every hockey fan should listen closely to what he had to say.
Maroon and Maple Leafs’ enforcer Wayne Simmonds was assessed with 10-minute misconduct during the game. It was early in the first period when Maroon and Simmonds chirped from the bench, and that was enough for the referees to put them in the penalty box.
Some days ago, a referee sent two players to the dressing room ahead of a face-off, even before dropping their gloves. And now, with the 10-minute misconducts given to him and Simmonds, Maroon is fed up.
Maroon spoke from the heart about the game in the post-game press conference, which he feels moves in the wrong direction.
“This game is going the wrong way,” Maroon said. “I guess you can’t chirp each other on the bench now. I guess that is illegal. I guess it is better to watch 1980s hockey when guys are chirping each other, but I don’t know why they (referees) did that.”
This is undoubtedly a long way from old-school hockey.
