Had an interesting phone conversation this morning with HockeyBuzz's resident officiating expert, U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Paul Stewart, about the two disallowed goals in last night's Lightning vs. Panthers game.
On April 11, with the playoffs looming, Stewy wrote
a blog for HockeyBuzz warning that goalie interference controversies were inevitable in the postseason and reviewing some of the standards of what is -- and is not -- rightfully considered goalie interference.
"It doesn't take a psychic to predict that goalie interference rulings -- or non-rulings -- were going to come into play in the playoffs this year," Stewart said. "It's that way every year."
Stewart continued, "I think both no-goal rulings last night were justified. What I had an issue with was the process. Anyone who has read my blogs or heard me speak has heard me say, 'The money is at the net. so get to the net.' Well, on the first disallowed goal last night, the referee was in the correct position. He DID get to the net. He didn't wave off the goal."
So what happened here?
"This one goes to my other main issue about the state of officiating. Referees and linemen, more and more, have the judgment aspect taken away from them. We've all become over-reliant on 'We'll just let the Situation Room in Toronto deal with it". Well, the call on the ice was a goal, from a referee in the best position to judge the play. I have no issue with the ultimate call here being no goal. In fact, the on-ice ref would have had the Rule Book as his shield if he had disallowed the goal. But if that's your call, MAKE IT. Don't make a call as a placeholder and then have Toronto make the actual call. Referee, make the call. Toronto, unless it's egregiously wrong, back it up. But that's not how it works these days," Stewart said.
And what about the second ruling?
"Again, this is not a right or wrong ruling matter. This one is about the positioning issue. The NHL does not coach officials to get to the net with nearly enough consistency. I swear, sometimes, I t almost think they should put GPS to see where the official is positioned relative to where the best vantage point is. Way too often, we have officials way off in the corner for a play where they need to be at the net. In this case, the correct call was made from the ice, despite the positioning being far less than ideal. There wasn't a push into the goalie or anything like that. There was contact in the blue paint and it played a role in the goal being scored. The bigger issue is that, while this call was correct, calls too often get missed due to positioning issues," Stewart said.
Stewart was also not at a loss for words about Jon Cooper's postgame comments about "putting skirts on the goaltenders".
"Cooper was trying to make a point. I don't think any disrespect was meant to women or to women's hockey. He was talking about how physicality and incidental contact around the net are largely being legislated out in the NHL, as with the rules of women's hockey and, frankly, international hockey as well. I don't think he chose the best words to express his frustration with the two calls, however. It turns the discussion into something else that it doesn't need to be," Stewart said.
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