There’s a new ‘tin foil hat’ conspiracy theory about the Toronto Maple Leafs

If you’ve spent any time in your life debating the Toronto Maple Leafs, you’ve probably heard a conspiracy theory or two.

Some people think that the NHL’s higher powers — who infamously have their video replay centre in Toronto — do everything possible to help the Maple Leafs succeed on any given night, including getting favourable referee calls in comparison to other teams.

As a counterpoint to that narrative, others point out that Toronto hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and has won just one playoff round since 2004.

But in recent times, a new conspiracy theory surrounding the team is being parroted by a pair of media members: TNT’s Paul Bissonnette and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Matthew Tkachuk, Alexander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett have all been out for the Florida Panthers in recent games, all suffering various injuries.

The Panthers have since been on a five-game losing streak, one that Bissonnette posits is so they can match up against the Leafs in the opening round of the playoffs as a possible 1-4 matchup in the Atlantic Division, perhaps seeing them as an easy mark given their postseason woes in recent years.

“I think Boston gave up Brad Marchand for nothing, he somehow ends up in Florida. And now Florida, a great team, is going to keep losing down the stretch… This is an inside job, Gary Bettman needs to look into it… he needs to look into what Paul Maurice and the Panthers are trying to do to my Toronto Maple Leafs,” Bissonnette said Sunday on TNT.

“We need the Battle of Ontario and the Battle of Florida. Let’s stick to the script. I don’t want Brad Marchand in the first round! Get Brad Marchand out of my face!”

While Bissonnette never played for the Leafs in his NHL career, the Welland, Ont. native has taken quite a liking to them in recent years.

Toronto currently sits first in the Atlantic Division and is slated to play the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs, though the Panthers are now just two points up on the Leafs’ provincial rivals with five games remaining.

Friedman addressed Bissonnette’s theory on the 32 Thoughts podcast on Monday, having been passed along similar thoughts from a producer at Sportsnet whom he identified as a big Leafs fan.

“Tampa Bay is in on it, that’s why they lost to Buffalo,” Friedman paraphrased from his producer while referencing the Lightning’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Sabres on Saturday that kept them four points behind the Leafs in the standings.

“It is the Sunshine State conspiracy… hated rivals [Panthers general manager] Bill Zito and [Lightning general manager] Julien Brisebois fixing the standings against the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Friedman laughed.

It should go without saying that there’s a bit of a jokey tone behind both Friedman and Bissonnette’s thoughts, suggesting it’s likely more just a series of fluky coincidences leading to Florida’s sudden slide in the standings.

But as long as the Leafs are playing hockey games and people are talking about them, you can expect conspiracy theories to be flying around, whether there’s any truth to them or not.