Vincent Trocheck was fighting back tears after Sunday's double overtime loss to the New York Islanders, ending the Florida Panthers' season too early.
Most would be in tears as well after being blatantly tripped late in the game TWICE in 48 hours and no call from the referees that were more of the story than the series itself.
NHL officiating is at an all-time low. There is no way to sugarcoat it.
If Islanders fans had lost the series in the fashion Florida lost it they would be calling for suspension of the referees and an internal investigation at the gross injustice. And rightfully so.
The game played by the players would have resulted in a 5-1 record in favor of the Panthers this series. Possibly 6-0. But the ineptitude of the officials made this a minimum of 7 on 6 against the Panthers that few teams could overcome.
The venom on social media towards the officials this series was constant and justified. Both teams were treated unfairly at times, but the Panthers clearly were on the short end of the stick at the very worst times, dictating the outcome.
Most shortsighted fans will call this sour grapes, which of course it isn't. I had so many objective Islanders fans reach out to me to share their condolences over the Panthers getting robbed it was refreshing. Thanks to those of you that had the awareness to agree Florida was the better team during this series.
There were interesting opinions from Panther fans trying to rationalize why the end result was what it was. Many were saying that championship teams overcome adversity, and blaming the refs is not an option.
Wrong.
Rationalization is the first sign of an unsound argument. There is no arguing how costly the officials were to Florida in this series.
When some of the the official's biggest gaffes are with under a minute left, especially in games 5 and 6, causing pivotal games to be incorrectly decided, there is no time to overcome such adversity.
The adversity was needless. It was preposterous. It was a punch in the gut to arguably the best series in the first round. The only reason it was the "best" series is because the officials didn't allow the 4-1 series victory Florida should have earned.
The Panthers held the lead 171:43 of the series, compared to 45:54 for the Islanders. Yes Thomas Greiss played remarkably well, and my hat is off to him, but multiple goals that should have counted were taken away from the Panthers by the officials.
Roberto Luongo was stellar as well, and if he can play like he did this season for two more, the Panthers are in great shape moving forward. The are anyway with all the maturing young talent, but he is key as GM Dale Tallon looks to make sure that position is solidified beyond Luongo's tenure.
There is much more to talk about regarding Florida's roster, pending UFA/RFA decisions, and draft talk.
But for now, all Panther Nation can do is wonder how they were involved in one of the worst officiated series in NHL history. It is simply astonishing all the things that went wrong for the Panthers they could not control.
Many people were saying this was a great learning experience for this young team. At first it's easy to agree with that statement since so many players experienced the playoffs for the first time. But did they really need to learn the "best" officials during the playoffs are a disaster? Let's say the Panthers dominate their first round opponent even more next year. Will that help with officials depriving them of the results they deserve?
Of course not.
That is the maddening part of what happened over these last few weeks. The Panthers clearly played good enough to win this series, probably in 5 games. At VERY WORST they should be preparing for Game 7 tomorrow since the two clear trips on Trocheck and Smith with an empty net should have ended the game last night.
Instead social media was buzzing with neverending GIFs of Tavares' winning goal with some sort of caption saying the Isles "won" their series.
To be fair, New York didn't win anything. They were handed a series by a set of zebras that should not see the ice again this year if the NHL wants to save themselves any more embarrassment.
Again, not sour grapes. Just facts.
It is important to the league that the Islanders are successful. With a high profile move to Brooklyn, yet finishing 26th in the league in attendance, BEHIND the Florida Panthers, they needed a boost. The NHL must be ecstatic.
The Cats and their fans will lick their wounds and stew over a long summer on what should have been. The only hope is the NHL is listening to the reasonable, logical, and valid complaints by fans all across the league that aren't NY fans that were disgusted by the outcome of this series.
When the officials are the story the league has failed. The NHL has a long way to go before the stench of this one subsides.
Dan Spiegel
Florida Panthers Media
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