Ron MacLean appears to throw another co-host under the bus.

Hockey Night In Canada host Ron MacLean has suddenly become a very divisive figure, at least if you listen to the opinion of fans on social media, and the recent controversy in the Stanley Cup Playoffs surrounding officiating in the National Hockey League has once again put MacLean in the spotlight for unfavorable reasons.

There's no question that both fans and pundits alike have been displeased by the officiating in the league but things have reached a level never before seen this year over the course of the playoffs. Even those who are traditionally quite protective of referees because of how hard their job is have had a difficult time biting their tongues when it comes to criticizing the officiating in the playoffs and the latest example of this was NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.

Friedman brought up the topic of the god awful officiating in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoff Semifinal between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens, examples of which you can find here, during the intermission of that game while he was on the Hockey Night in Canada panel. Instead of sparking a discussion as he seemed to be attempting to do however Friedman was quickly shut down by his colleague on that panel, the aforementioned MacLean, who bizarrely raised his hand and tried to divert the topic. 

You can see the awkward moment here:

Interestingly enough, although I did not witness this myself, Kevin McGran of the Professional Hockey Writers Association claims that this was the second time that MacLean had treated Friedman in such a manner during the HNIC broadcast. McGran was highly critical of MacLean, a former referee himself, for doing so.

Thankfully in the most recent instance of this behavior former National Hockey League player Kevin Bieksa, who has been a fantastic member of the broadcast this season, raised his hand and appeared to come to the defense of Friedman despite MacLean's attempts to shut him down.

MacLean is of course no stranger to throwing his colleague's under the bus. Fans will remember all too well how quick he was to turn his back on long time friend and co host Don Cherry, a man many credit for MacLean's success in hockey broadcasting. Friedman, as an insider, has become an integral part of the HNIC broadcast, more so than ever before, and I do wonder if there may be something more at play here between these two.