This in from Montreal where the media there is still whining, crying, bellyaching and posting about the referees in the Canadiens 6-5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Montreal sports commentator Tony Marinaro of the Sick Podcast today posted a video clip of him talking with former NHL coach Pierre McGuire, with McGuire calling for the NHL to investigate what happened in the match where two late Montreal penalties led to two late Edmonton power play goals.

Said McGuire: “I want to see what the league is going to do about this. I mean that… These two officials made a lot of mistakes. I’m telling you. Tony, the call against Slavkovsky is as bad a call as I’ve seen all year.”

Marino responded, “My prediction… They’re not going to do anything. Pierre, what do you what are they gonna do? They’re not gonna do anything. They’re not gonna take these refs away from a game or whatever.”

The Oilers did not score on the Slavkovsky penalty, which happened early in the third period with Montreal ahead 5-3.

I saw it as hit-from-behind but hockey commentator Josh Boulton of the Tough Call Podcast said he didn’t think it was a penalty, though he did note Slavkovsky’s hand on Emberson’s back. “He does hold the hand up and stick it out at, you know, upper back head height. So I can see how the official in the moment might have seen that as a cause of some sort of force pushing the head into the boards. But Slavkovsky is in so much control, he doesn’t even impact the boards, let alone make Emerson impact the boards in any way. So it’s a really unfortunate call, especially the moment of the game and what happened after the fact you.”

In Montreal, the Slavkovsky’s penalty, followed by a tripping penalty to Mike Matheson and an unsportsmanlike call on Josh Anderson for harassing the referees, approaching them and slapping his stick on the ice after the second Edmonton power play goal, has created a firestrom.

It started as the game was going on with TSN’s Craig Button and Montreal Gazette columnist Stu Cowan leading the charge.

Said Button: “Referees get Oilers back in game. Good on TSN’s Craig Button for ripping officials on broadcast…. TSN’s Craig Button compares what referees did to Habs tonight to recent robbery at the Louvre. Good line – and true.

And: “NHL referees tonight in Edmonton seemed to think fans paid money for tickets to watch them.”

And: “Anyone who bet on Oilers tonight vs. Habs should think about giving some of their winnings to referees Garrett Rank and Chris Schlenker.”

On the Sick Podcast with Marinaro on Friday, Cowan raised the spectre of gambling as part of the equation of what went wrong here.

Said Marinaro: “You know what wasn’t good last night, especially if you ask any Montreal Canadiens fan? Would be the refereeing.”

Said Cowan: “the refereeing was so questionable, and especially on a day when they had the big gambling scandal in the NBA. And you’re wondering, I mean, the call, (Habs forward Brendan) Gallagher said that they admitted they screwed up on the boarding call on Slavkovsky, which was not a boarding call. No, and then the questionable sort of tripping call on Matheson and they score.”

Cowan said the referees should have brushed off Josh Anderson’s antics, whatever they were. “An NHL referee has to have some thicker skin, right?”

He added: “You’re almost deciding the outcome of the game. … Referees are not supposed to have that kind of an impact on the outcome of a game. And they did last night.”

To all this, hockey commentator and former Oilers player Ryan Whitney of the Spittin’ Chiclets responded: “The city of Montreal is still crying about losing to the Oilers! In the history of the NHL no one has gotten more calls than the Habs and these fans can’t get over the Oilers getting a couple calls in their favor last night. Work on your PK!”

My take

1. I get the anger in Montreal. I’ve been plenty unhappy with referees in Oilers games. I write as a fan and I see it as a fan, which means I’m biased in my takes on the refs. I’ll suggest we’re seeing the same out of Montreal.

2. I had no issue with the Slavkovsky call or the Matheson penalty. They looked like clear penalties to me. I did question the Anderson call after the game, but when I had missed the video clip of Anderson approaching the ref and snapping his stick on the ice seven times. We have no idea if Anderson was also saying anything. The stick slapping was a provactive action. I doubt the NHL would have any problem with it.

3. As for the implication about gambling, this kind of allegation is going to come up non-stop in years to come due to the NHL’s ever closer relationship to sports betting.

Betting companies have become major sponsors of broadcasts. Big money is on the line.

It’s hard to imagine that with that amount of money at stake that there won’t be some game fixing. But while this is inevitable, it’s misguided and fraught to tie any one call or play to such a scenario.

Nonetheless, we’re all going to be wondering about this in the years to come. It goes with the territory of widespread, big money gambling.