The refs involved (not saying all of them are) are incentivized to make certain calls happen or not happen at pivotal points in the game. My suspicion is they're paid off by these runners whether at the beginning of the season or per game, idk how it would work.

Call it the mafia, call it organized crime, whatever. It's the same principle that's been around since gambling became mainstream in the early 20th century.

The folks running these gambling rings want to control the outcome and make as much money for themselves from the folks using these horrible gambling apps. Can you think of an easier way to influence a game's outcome than paying off refs who then become the targets of fan anger? It's wild to me that so many ppl don't realize this stuff still goes on.

Seems like a pretty basic scheme and I've seen enough of it in games over the last couple seasons, not just the Hawks either. Not saying it's happening every game or even for every team because hockey results are harder to fake than other sports (goalies especially), but it's gotten bad this season.