In what should have been a quick decision using video replay to determine if a play was off side, the Jets ultimately came out ahead 2-1 over the Capitals as Jacob Trouba fed Mark Schiefele to get a late OT goal. Instead it was a long ordeal that only the linesmen seemed to understand as necessary. No matter what view you saw there was nothing that was definitive proof showing Blake Wheeler's skate as being off the ice.
That right there was the problem, you could look at the various camera angles as much as you wanted and nothing showed a definitive change in the call that was made on the ice. The fans knew it, the league knew it, Twitter knew it and media knew it, how the officials could not know the evidence was lacking is beyond belief.
The problem here is that they were probably approaching the process from the wrong direction- looking to see if something existed that proved they had indeed made the wrong call. That's not the right way to do a review, instead they should be looking at the review as a means supporting the call. If it does not, does the evidence definitively say there was a mistake or that a different call should be made.
Anyhow the right call based on the officials and the evidence was made. Barry Trotz and his adherence to his belief that the skate was off the line may very well be right, but there was nothing to support that claim.
Play: Ruled on side Claim: The skate was not touching the blue line Replay: Showed that there was no way to say call on the ice was wrong
Case closed but it took 2 times as long as the OT period to figure it out.
Paul Maurice had this to say as the ruling was about to be made:
The other rather significant news was that during the broadcast Elliote Friedman revealed that 'talks between Trouba's camp and the Jets hade amicably been put on hold to the off-season'. Where have we seen this play before with the Jets? As astute NHL reporter Patrick Williams tweeted:
@NHL_Campbell Hesitating on contracts has served them well in the past. :)
— PATRICK WILLIAMS (@pwilliamsNHL) December 6, 2015Right now the Jets have Trouba, Scheifele and Lowry as RFA contracts coming up along with Ladd and Byfuglien as UFAs... in case you had not heard. But the concerning thing is this 'wait and see' attitude from Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is what should be most concerning. Why can't anything get done now? It took the Jets until the summer, and late summer for some, to get deals with Bogosian, Wheeler and Little in the summer of 2013. Then in summer 2014 with a self imposed deadline the Jets and Frolik could not get any kind of deal done but 'agreed' to revisit later, we all know how that turned out.
It's a risky move but one that does not have to be a disaster if both sides are looking to make a deal that works for each other.
Today, in a few hours the Jets face the Blackhawks for their first visit to Chicago this season. The previous meeting was a 3-1 win for Winnipeg in Winnipeg as BlackHawk unit-venom Michael Hutchinson did his usual thing against the central division rivals. I'd expect nothing short of that again as after two wins for Connor Hellebuyck the Jets second year goalie must be feeling a bit of heat, particularly as Hutchinson has had 4 consecutive starts with a sub .900 save percentage.
Who to watch:
While the top line of Ladd Little and Wheeler took the tough matchups against the Capitals it was Perreault, Scheifele and Stafford who were on fire, much like they were against the Leafs. It's been the depth of the forwards that has really tested the Jets offence and will Thorburn Burmistrov Ehlers be able to hold their own agains the veteran and talented Hawks?
Myers had a strong game keeping Ovechkin in check but can he do the same against the much swifter and deft Kane should the challenge be offered?
It's another bar fight for the Jets and hopefully they use the little bit of momentum they have gained this week to put up the good and smart fight.