Best response to the Colin Campbell claims?
I keep running into the same Colin Campbell argument whenever people talk about the Panthers. The fans of other teams bring up Colin Campbell and Gregory Campbell. The argument is usually that because Gregory is our assistant GM and Colin is a longtime NHL executive, the Panthers must be getting favorable officiating or Department of Player Safety decisions.
I know about the leaked emails from years ago involving Colin complaining about calls against his son when Gregory was a player, but is there any actual evidence that he’s influenced officiating or discipline to benefit the Panthers since Gregory joined the organization? Or is this mostly people connecting dots because of what happened over a decade ago?
I’m looking for factual counterarguments rather than “just ignore them.” Are there articles, interviews, league policies, or examples that address the conflict-of-interest claims? It seems like this gets brought up constantly by fans of other teams, and I’m curious what the strongest response actually is.