Last night, in the second period between the Devils and Canes, the refs had a chance to use common sense and get a play right and award a goal when there was clearly one scored. Instead, they decided to infuriate everyone and throw common sense in the trash.
Last night, in the second period between the New Jersey Devils and the Carolina Hurricanes, the referees and Toronto, where they supposedly watch replays and assist the refs, showcased why common sense is so sorely lacking in the NHL sometimes (this is true in multiple sports honestly, but this is a blog about an NHL team). Now, before I go further with my rant, it is important to know that while the ultimate decision in the game went against the Devils, my favorite team and the team I was rooting for, I would feel the exact same way if it were the other way around and if the call favored NJ and went against Carolina.
With 6 minutes to go in the second period, Nico Hischier received a fantastic pass from Stefan Noesen and was all alone in front of the Carolina goal, with only goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov in the way. Nico, skating backward after receiving the pass, made a nice move and scored a goal. It was obvious to everyone watching, on TV and at the Rock, that it was a goal. The puck squirted between Kochetkov’s legs and came out into the back of the net, visible to all. Yet, the ref blew the whistle before seeing the puck in the net and waved off the goal.
The play then went to review, and the ref got on the headphones and watched the review on the iPad for a bit. And on the replay, it was as plain as day that a goal was scored. No one, not even the staunchest Carolina fan, would say that a goal was not scored. The puck was in the net. And if you sync multiple replays together, you can actually determine that the whistle was blown as the puck was leaving the goaltender’s legs and becoming visible in the back of the net. I actually think it was already out of his legs when he was blowing the whistle, but at the very worst, he was blowing the whistle as the puck became visible. So, and this is key, he blew the whistle well after the puck was already in the net. It was in his legs first before squirting out the back and becoming visible, so clearly, there was a goal already even before he blew the whistle. This is clear to anyone who takes a look at the replays, which is exactly what the refs were doing both at the Rock and in Toronto.
Yet, a short while later, the ref came back onto the ice and said that there was no goal, the call on the ice stands. And from what Bill Spaulding, Ken Daneyko, and Bryce Salvador were discussing before the announcement was made, the key thing in the rulebook is that it is not when the whistle is blown, it is when the ref intended to blow the whistle that matters. So, because he intended to blow the whistle when he did not see the puck, even though the puck became visible to him as he was blowing the whistle, it is still no goal even though it is clear on the replay that a goal was scored.
This, obviously, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I understand the intent of the rule. If a ref blows a whistle and a player stops playing, and because that player stops playing the puck enters the net, you cannot award a goal because the whistle clearly impacted play. That makes perfect sense. However, in this scenario, the whistle affected no one at all. Everyone was still playing at full speed when the puck crossed the line and became a goal, and the whistle did not impact any of that. The whistle was blown when the puck was already in the net, the replay makes that fact indisputable. It was not even like those plays in football where the call has to stand because the replay cannot actually see the outcome because there is no clear line of sight. All evidence clearly showed a goal being scored by Nico Hischier before the whistle was blown, and the puck was very evidently never secured by the goaltender as it squirted out behind his legs as the whistle was being blown. Nothing was affected at all by the whistle, absolutely nothing. The play would have happened exactly as it did had the ref never blown the whistle.
Common sense, therefore, dictates that replay should declare this a goal. Anything else, and the ref is directly impacting the game unnecessarily. His whistle affected nothing on that play, no one stopped playing because of the whistle, and in fact, it is clear on the replay that the goal was scored before the whistle was even blown at all. Yet by disallowing the goal, the refs are directly inserting themselves into the game and affecting the outcome when common sense says there is no reason to do that at all. Replay showed the refs all they needed to see that a goal was scored and that the whistle 1. Should not have been blown at all, and 2. Did not affect the goal being scored because it was blown after the puck entered the net. But no, common sense be damned, we’re going to take replay and throw it in the trash and make it utterly useless because he intended to blow the whistle when he did not see the puck. Like, what?
This is a major problem with hockey, and with all sports that use replay at this point. Why have replay at all if you are not going to apply common sense when using it? I don’t care what the rule book specifically says, the thing is so thick and full of convoluted rules that common sense was lost a long time ago. But replay should be there to reinsert common sense, to get it right, not to make sure the rulebook is right. The puck crossed the line before the ref blew the whistle. He might not have seen that on the ice in real time when he blew the whistle, but the replay made it abundantly clear that a goal was scored before the whistle was blown. That is a goal according to the rulebook. To then disallow the goal on a technicality because of a different rule when common sense is hitting you in the face like a punch from Mike Tyson, is asinine. Yet, that is what the NHL decided.
Honestly, stuff like that makes sports unwatchable. The NFL is becoming less and less watchable because they absolutely refuse to use common sense on replays as well, and the NHL is just as bad. But while the NFL is still the golden goose of revenue, the NHL is not. It needs to cater to fans way more than Roger Goodell and the National Football League. And things like that last night, where replay does not get it right, and common sense is not used, just lose more fans year after year. Why would a 10 year old kid watch hockey when stupid things like that happen in games all too often? It’s stupid. The 10 year old would say it’s stupid, and that kid would be right to say so. Keep this up, and the NHL is only going to shoot itself in the foot more and more as the years go on. Use replay to get it right and to apply common sense, however, and maybe low propensity fans will tune in more, and maybe the league can grow more. But keep ignoring common sense on replays like this, and all you’re doing is pissing off the fanbase. And I don’t just mean the Devils’ fanbase that was on the wrong end of this call, I mean the league in general. Because it happens to every team. You and I might be stuck, we are obviously way too committed to Devils hockey to leave it anytime soon. But for the kids who are just starting to watch sports? What is that doing for them? Turning them off, that’s what.