The Toronto Maple Leafs had to ice a different lineup than they intended when they heard Auston Matthews announced ahead of their win against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had to ice a different lineup than they intended when they heard Auston Matthews announced ahead of their win against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs planned to start their third line with Nick Robertson, Fraser Minten, and Steven Lorentz, but were forced to replace Minten with Auston Matthews at the start of their 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Although Minten lined up at center ice during the national anthems, Matthews was officially listed in the starting lineup.
So, what happened?
"Minten was starting. And then I came out, and I heard Auston Matthews get announced. So I was like, 'what'?" Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube explained. "So I called (NHL referee) Steve Kozari, and I just told him, I'm like I don't know. We got Minten down, but I heard Matthews. He goes, 'Well, put Matthews out there just to start the game.'"
Had the Leafs started Minten instead of Matthews, they could have assessed a two-minute bench minor if the mistake had been caught by the opposing team.
A similar situation occurred on November 21 when the Nashville Predators were assessed a bench minor for starting the wrong lineup. Steven Stamkos was listed in the opening lineup, but Filip Forsberg took the opening faceoff instead.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG5dV8p2buw[/embed]
Berube himself had dealt with a similar infraction during his time with the St. Louis Blues. On December 15, 2022, the Blues were assessed a bench minor for icing the wrong lineup. Brandon Saad was on the ice when Brayden Schenn was listed in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. Then-Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft alerted officials after an offside call.
"That's my fault," Berube was seen admitting after the incident.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23fgwsc0AF0[/embed]
So how are lineups submitted?
"It's on the computer. So these computers screw everything up," Berube said with a smile. "That's why I used to write them out, you know, on paper. I'd rather do that."
The good news for Toronto is that it was a home game and they were able to hear public address announcer Mike Ross make the announcement. Had they been the visitors, it may not been as easy. In the two aforementioned examples where a penalty was assessed, the team committing the infractions were the visitors.