08-06-2025
NHL conspiracy against arch-villain Sam Bennett? Florida Panthers commentators believe so
Article content
At the time of the penalty a few neutral observers questioned the call, such as Boston's Peter Blackburn of the What Chaos podcast. 'I know it's Sam Bennett and he doesn't deserve much benefit of the doubt but I really don't like that penalty call.'
And The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun: 'For sure Ekholm pushes Bennett, but Bennett's reputation around the crease is also something that refs around the league are aware of. Should that matter or not? Not sure it's called a penalty if it's not Bennett? Certainly a good debate to be had on it.'
But both when the call was made and afterwards, the consensus out of Florida was that Bennett got a raw and possibly shady deal on the call.
Said Jacob Langsam of the Panther Pourri podcast: 'We are seeing a whole lot of the 'that was a terrible call, but Bennett hurt my feelings earlier in the playoffs' barely dressed up and trotted out as legitimate analysis.'
