Tag: Brandon Hagel

NHL referees missed a blatant high stick on Brandon Hagel and the Lightning were furious

Brandon Hagel and the Lightning had every right to be mad here.

Officiating in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs has been rocky, to say the least.

As the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate their first playoff series victory in 19 seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning are headed home early from the postseason for the first time in a long time. The series was an incredibly close one, and it took overtime to decide Saturday night’s Game 6 after a tightly-contested game.

Before overtime began, however, there was quite a bit of officiating controversy after a pretty big missed call. In the dying seconds of the third period, with the score tied 1-1, Brandon Hagel was clipped with a high stick from T. J. Brodie while racing for the puck down the middle of the ice.

Hagel came up clutching his face, but no call was made. After the period ended, Hagel and the Lightning were seething over the non-call, which would have put Tampa Bay on a power play for nearly a full two minutes to start overtime.

Talk about a rough way to end the season. Who knows if the Lightning would have scored to force a Game 7 if Brodie was called for a high stick, but it’s just another example of the inconsistent officiating in these playoffs.

Here’s how fans reacted to the non-call high stick on Hagel.

Brandon Hagel successfully predicted what the Lightning would trade for him weeks ago

Brandon Hagel goes exactly what he’s worth.

Brandon Hagel was going to be traded. That much was clear.

From new Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson calling for a rebuild to Hagel’s cheap contract to the list of Stanley Cup contenders thirsting for point-producers, there was no shot the 23-year-old would end the season in the Windy City.

Especially not after posting 21 goals and 16 assists through 55 games with the Hawks this year.

A trade was only a matter of time. Chicago knew it. The leaguer’s contenders knew it. Hagel knew it.

On Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning ponied up to acquire the forward, sending two first round picks along with fringe players Boris Katchouk and forward Taylor Raddysh. It was a solid return for Chicago and one Tampa could’ve reasonably expected to give up. All the Lightning had to do was listen to what Hagel said about his trade value three weeks ago.

Speaking after another breakout performance, Hagel came pretty close to nailing exactly what the asking price was for his services:

OK, so the Hawks didn’t land McDavid in the deal—which, we agree, might’ve been overpaying a bit—but Hagel got it right when he said it would take two first-rounders and two prospects for Chicago to deal him.

With the Lightning’s Stanley Cup window as wide open as it’ll ever get, the back-to-back champions don’t really need to second guess themselves here, either.

Tampa Bay is +750 to win a third consecutive Cup at Tipico Sportsbook and those odds may only get shorter by the time the trade deadline passes on March 21. In the meantime, Hagel can start polishing up his GM resume for when his playing days are done.

He’s clearly got a future here.

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