In the Pens' crazy motherfucking 5-4 win over the Rangers last night, the refs had a huge say, calling a (perhaps) questionable interference penalty with under four minutes left in the third of a 4-4 game, leading to Malkin's eventual winner on the PP. You can see it on TSN's video at about the 1:50 mark. The victim of the interference was Hockey Jesus himself. As you can imagine, the fine folks over over at The Pensblog say simply "Martin Straka interfere(d) with Crosby trying to get it. Interference is a penalty." On the other hand, our old friends over at Blueshirt Bulletin have a different take: "Did Straka interfere with Crosby? Possibly...with Gomez having swatted the puck off Marian Hossa's stick, neither team had possession, so it may have been Crosby interfering with Straka -- or more likely just two players battling for a loose puck. ... Crosby dove, so he got the call, a call that was not being made any other time in the game on behalf of any other player, let alone at such a critical juncture."
We asked the two blogs to sit down over tea to try to resolve their difference of opinion. The following is a transcript.
Pensblog: Good day to you, fine sir. A delight to be with you.
BB: Good day to you as well. May I begin by saying how lovely it is to sit down with you and converse in such a rational manner. Civilized discourse is the key to a harmonious society, especially in the blogosphere.
Pensblog: I tend to agree. If I may, to begin, you must acknowledge that Mr. Crosby was prevented from using his glorious rapidity to get to the puck, which by definition is, in fact, interference.
BB: While I have no quarrels with your definition, good sir, I do believe that is not the issue. The question was whether in fact it was poorly timed, with under 4 minutes to go in a 4-4 playoff contest.
Pensblog: I must respectfully disagree. Should not a penalty be a penalty whenever it occurs? It would seem ungentlemanly to change the rules throughout the course of a game, would it not?
BB: Well good sir, the art of refereeing is subjective at the best of times, there is no reason external factors cannot influence what should and should not be called.
Pensblog: No, my good man, it is not subjective, there is a definition of a penalty and it should be called the same regardless of the situation. That's pure objectivity.
BB: Bite me, dickwad.
*tm Pensblog.
We asked the two blogs to sit down over tea to try to resolve their difference of opinion. The following is a transcript.
Pensblog: Good day to you, fine sir. A delight to be with you.
BB: Good day to you as well. May I begin by saying how lovely it is to sit down with you and converse in such a rational manner. Civilized discourse is the key to a harmonious society, especially in the blogosphere.
Pensblog: I tend to agree. If I may, to begin, you must acknowledge that Mr. Crosby was prevented from using his glorious rapidity to get to the puck, which by definition is, in fact, interference.
BB: While I have no quarrels with your definition, good sir, I do believe that is not the issue. The question was whether in fact it was poorly timed, with under 4 minutes to go in a 4-4 playoff contest.
Pensblog: I must respectfully disagree. Should not a penalty be a penalty whenever it occurs? It would seem ungentlemanly to change the rules throughout the course of a game, would it not?
BB: Well good sir, the art of refereeing is subjective at the best of times, there is no reason external factors cannot influence what should and should not be called.
Pensblog: No, my good man, it is not subjective, there is a definition of a penalty and it should be called the same regardless of the situation. That's pure objectivity.
BB: Bite me, dickwad.
*tm Pensblog.
13 comments:
I'll use the comments section to give my personal opinion - totally fucking bullshit call imho. A real load of crap. I won't buy any Bettman wants Sid in the Finals conspiracies, only because he probably wants the Rangers just as much, but that call should not have been made. Crosby himself in the video, says "I just tried to catch up to him and ended up falling". Give me a break
Too many times over the course of this season, the officials have decided the outcome of games. The objective always, but especially in the playoffs, should be to allow the players (within reason) to determine the winner. I really think they should go back to one referee. One less body on the sheet frees up some space, but more importantly it insures a measure of consistancy. I'd rather have one guy call a bad game than two. Also, vis-a-vis Syd, if you're going to be penalized for touching him or appearing to do so, make it worthwhile. Catch him with his head down in the channel and bury him like Scott Stevens would. You might get a fiver, but crap, in for a penny in for a pound. Of topic, the Rangers hold a lead like a sieve holds water.
Sorry, this is totally unrelated.
From TSN's lookback of game 1 Habs-Flyers:
"It appeared that Kovalev hit the puck in with a high stick, but after a lengthy review the on-ice call stood and the game was tied."
"Replays also showed that Richards did not knee Kovalev on the play, but rather hit the Russian sniper on the hip with his shoulder."
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=235905&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_main
I'm sorry, was I in an alternate universe for the last two days? the replay clearly shows a knee on Richard's part. You can argue intention, but body parts are pretty obvious.
Kovy's goal was close, but this quote implies that it was the wrong call. The call was made on the ice, the replay has to show conclusively that it was the wrong call. If I was a Flyers fan I'd probably be pissed, too (for many reasons). But I don't believe anyone can say with the video for sure one way or another. Thus, the call stands.
I would have let this last one slide if it weren't followed immediately by the nonsensical Richards issue.
See, this is why the French hate English Canada. They'll never be fully accepted. All other Canadian teams are celebrated, Habs are questioned. We all if replaced Habs with Maple Leafs, the media in Canada would be calling for a suspension.
Toronto Sports Network indeed.
Second last sentence should read:
"We all know if we replaced..."
I'm just all flustered! And drunk. It's Saturday night here afterall.
Oh Christ, now I've gone and signed in under the wrong name. I really am drunk, aren't I?
And, yes, I realize no one is reading this.
not true orangeman, im enjoying your drunken prose immensely
Thank you 29. What I have to say is very important. Oh, there're should have been a 'not very' in that last sentence.
I came home early to get some sleep before the early morning start for my Habs (I'm 13 hrs ahead, 8am). Instead, I'm continuing drinking and getting angry at the interwebs.
Time to use my time properly and find me some porn. I mean cure cancer.
What're my chances lobbying the league to start these games at 1pm est? That would make my life so much better.
What on earth happened to the game day thread? I was reading it, then refreshed the page and it's vanished into the ether.
@rips it - I had a senior moment.
The biggest misperception in all of sports is that by making calls in the end of games, refs are deciding the game in a negative way. "Let the players decide it" The truth is that by not making calls refs are even more so affecting the game. Refs let alot go in the ends of games, maybe too much. But you can't just let players commit penalties to prevent a team from scoring and let it go because "its the most important moments of the game" YOU HAVE TO MAKE CALLS because it is the most important time of the game.
PS if the rangers could hold a lead they wouldnt have been in that situation... stop crying and work on your team defense
you write well.
the Rangers' back and forth was amusing.
I'm leaving a comment because the BSB criticized you for a lack comments. The writing here is far superior, and the humor is much more intellegent.
I will be back, I enjoy your blog.
Go Pens
@anonymous - thx for the good words.
BSB was correct re their comments comment, but that was back in the first month of the blog. we've developed a real nice commentor community since then.
look forward to seeing you in the next round (knock wood)
Crosby was impeded, and yesterday he was hauled down with the free hand. He's not a diver. Period.
But thank you for not buying into the bullcrap about the league being fixed. Finally somebody.
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