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My heart goes out to NHL referee Brad Meier for what he's been going through since a would-be go-ahead goal for Russia in the third period of their preliminary round game against USA was disallowed. Anyone who has worn the striped shirt has been there; albeit maybe not with our image plastered on picket signs outside our national embassy.
I will reiterate what I wrote in yesterday's blog: Meier and his officiating teammates did nothing wrong. The net was (ever so slightly) off its mooring. Upon video review, the goal was disallowed. Two key points here:
1)
The officials followed the correct protocol. According to the letter of the IIHF rulebook (Rule #330b, section 2): "a puck going into the net prior to the goal frame being displaced is subject to review by the Video Goal Judge."
2)
The no-goal call was the correct one. Blame the rule, not the ref. Under current IIHF rules, which differ a bit from NHL rules, if the net is off its mooring AT ALL before the goal is scored, the ruling should be no goal. In the NHL, the net must be completely off the peg. According to IIHF Rule 471a article 5, a goal should be disallowed "if the goal net has been displaced from its normal position, or the frame of the goal net is not completely flat on the ice."
The current IIHF role is a bad one that needs to be changed. The net being slightly off the peg had nothing to do with the play, and it's tough enough to score goals as it is. As a matter of fact, IIHF president Rene Fasel has already said that the net-off-the-mooring rule will be altered to be in line with the NHL's standard.
There was no nationalism involved in the call. Meier and his teammates didn't make the call because Meier from Ohio and wanted the U.S. to win. The other referee, Markus Vinnerborg, is from Sweden. The on-ice and video goal judge did their jobs, and the correct call was made. IIHF offficiating supervisor Konstantin Komissarov -- a Russian -- has stated that the right call was made and the correct procedures were followed on the video review.
For all the great things the Olympics bring, it also brings out some of the worst in fans. The gold medal in hockey is not an entitlement. The medal round field is wide open, and anything can happen. Folks, the days of Canada and Russia simply being able to show up and impose their will on the ice against every other country are gone, and they are not coming back.
Some people have trouble coping with that, and have to look for scapegoats. Blaming a "nationalistic referee" (Meier) or the preliminary-round personnel handling by a Stanley Cup winning coach (Mike Babcock) for Russia and Canada not breezing through the preliminaries is a weak excuse and shows an ignorance for the evolution of our game.
Of course, this is NOT just a Canadian or Russian phenomenon. It's human nature. Had the skate been on the other foot and a U.S. goal had been disallowed according to the rulebook, I'm sure there would have people in the U.S. saying "the officials were bending over backwards for the Russians because the Olympics are in Sochi."
Winning a gold medal -- or Stanley Cup -- wasn't meant to be easy. There are other worthy contenders out there, too, and things like good goaltending and teamwide commitment to defense are big equalizers, along with riding the emotional wave of the game.
As an official, one has to act for the good of the game and according to the rulebook. Brad Meier and his teammates did that, so it's a shame that some immature folks rooting for Russia have targeted Meier as the reason their team lost. Want to pin "blame"? Blame the Russian power play for coming out on the wrong end of the special teams battle in that game. Blame Jonathan Quick for making clutch saves. Blame shots that were fired wide from good angles. In short, blame hockey for being hockey.
Meier and his teammates made a gutsy and correct ruling here. To me that's worthy of praise. An official must be willing to make some unpopular decisions. A couple examples from my own career:
In the second game of 1987 Canada Cup finals between Canada and the Soviet Union, I had to make a pair of tough judgment calls about whether Russian players had interfered with Team Canada goaltender Grant Fuhr on borderline would-be goals for the Soviets. I allowed one goal, incurring the wrath of the Canadians. I disallowed the second one, which displeased the Russians.
Late during the 1996-97 season, I worked an afternoon game in Philadelphia between the Flyers and Ottawa Senators. In the opening seconds of play, I whistled off Philadelphia's Mikael Renberg for pulling down Ottawa forward Randy Cunneyworth near the blueline.
It was a correct call and there was only one thing made it different from countless similar penalties: On the play, Renberg had been accidentally kicked in the face by Cunneyworth's skate. As he fell to the ice in a heap, the Philadelphia player instinctively grabbed onto the opposing player. Renberg lost a lot of blood and had to be rushed to the hospital, where he received over 200 stitches to close a scalpel-like wound from his chin to his nostril.
When Renberg was taken off the ice and the pool of blood cleaned up, Flyers public address announcer Lou Nolan made the penalty call announcement. I heard it big time from the home crowd and got booed throughout the game.
Hey, so be it. Such is the life of the referee. Hockey is a heartless game at times, but it wasn't that I lacked concern for an injured player. I was doing my job and I called a penalty, albeit under unfortunate circumstances.
Anyone who thinks it's easy to be an official is someone who has never tried to do this job. Sometimes even when you make the correct call, you're going to catch flak. But I wouldn't trade my life for anyone's.
Someday, I hope Brad Meier can look back at the time he inspired embassy pickets and laugh at the memory; secure in the knowledge that he did his job along with his teammates.
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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Today, Stewart is an officiating and league discipline consultant for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials. Stewart also maintains a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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