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As a referee, it was my job to enforce the Rule book and making goal/ no goal rulings accordingly. As a hockey lover and former player for whom goals were scarce, my own philosophy on hockey goals is that are hard enough to come by without the rules taking away certain forms of creativity that fall short of blatant violations of the spirit of the game.
Andrew Shaw's disallowed goal in double OT of last night's Western Conference Final game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks is a good example of a play that teeters on the borderline of what probably should be allowed but is illegal as the rulebook is written.
On the play in question, Chicago's Shaw pulled off a intentional soccer-style header off the crown of his helmet and the puck happened to into the net. Really, it was the only conceivable way for him to score -- albeit with scant odds of success -- because he couldn't legally play the puck with his stick if he could even get to it.
Alas, the Rule Book is unsparing. Rule e 78.5 (i) prohibits any means of intentionally directing the puck into the net -- can't throw it, sweep it, bat it, make the ever-debated distinct kicking motion, etc -- by any means other than the stick. That includes channeling Pele and heading the puck into the net.
This sort of disallowed goal is unusual but not unprecedented. Obviously, even as crazy as we were in the era before helmets were mandatory, no one was going to deliberately head a puck in the old days. But with the bucket and a little bit of fast action, I say if you can actually score one that way, it's a pretty impressive if fluky accomplishment.
There is, however, also a safety issue to consider as well as a practical consideration.
As someone who misses the element of creativity that is increasingly dying out in our game, part of me would like to see the phrase "when the puck can be played by legal means" to the rules and keeps the spirit of the rules while still allowing for a little bit of kooky creativity on the spur of the moment.
However, logically I understand why the rule exists as is and why the goal had to be disallowed. Oh, well. At least it was something out of ordinary that folks who saw it will remember.
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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 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.
In addition to his blogs for HockeyBuzz every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Stewart writes a column every Wednesday for the Huffington Post.