Saturday, June 2, 2007

Bizzare Game!

1) Excellent hockey game indeed this evening in Kanata. There were several notable firsts for us at Fauxrumors. During the contest after the weird 5 on 4 , even strength goal by the Senators we at FAUXRUMORS had a conference call amongst all our members. Not one of us(collectively comprising over 2 century's worth of hockey) could remember such a mistake, ever!

2) There were SO many levels of non/miscommunication/lack of attention from SO many folks to lead to that result that its almost incomprehensible how it could EVER happen, let alone during a Stanley Cup Finals game! This is something you might see during a peewee game not at this level.

3) To summarize; The Ducks had a face off deep in their end. They completed(or so they thought) a player change and got ready to take the draw. Trouble is, Moen, the other forward didn't make it to the ice, leaving the Ducks with 4 players to the Senators 5. How Carlyle, and all the assistant coaches, the goalie, and the 4 players on the ice could collectively NOT see this is, as we said, unbelievable!

4) Next, we have another crazy 'kicking the puck in' call. We also can NOT understand this rule. It has been called and interpreted differently from one game to the next. It appears even the officials on and off the ice are confused as to what the rule IS concerning such calls. To add to the confusion was that the referee emphatically whitewashed Alfredsson's goal. You'd have to believe that it would take irrefutable evidence on replay to overturn the call on the ice. The replays were inconclusive and open to interpretation. Which usually means the on ice call would prevail. Not tonight. Now, we're not against players using skates to score. We believe that the rule should allow ANY amount of skates usage to be legal, but until the rule is changed, we are all in the dark as to what in fact the rule, IS!

5) The next bizarre play involved the usage of another players sweater during play. Apparently Ottawa forward Jason Spezza had his jersey significantly damaged to the point that it couldn't be used, and needed repair. Well, instead of finding another 'Spezza' jersey(do they only have one?) he dons Patrick Eaves' (who wasn't dressed tonight) sweater and goes on to play several shifts as 'Eaves'. Another first for all of us at FAUXRUMORS.

6) None of us could recall this ever happening, and didn't think it could/should be legal. Did they get a special dispensation from the officials or is it allowed in general? If there are no specific rules, what's to stop coaches from being coy and sending out guys with different jerseys to throw off an opponent, even if its just a momentary distraction?

7) The game itself was very exciting. Chris Neil was the game MVP, he was all over the place throwing his body and also contributing offensively. Ray Emery showed why many thought he was the Achilles heel of the team. Giving up weak goals and juicy rebounds all evening.

8) Also, can someone please tell us how 4 officials missed Pronger's obvious elbow to the head of McAmmond. The Senator had just gotten a shot off from the slot, and was skating past Pronger when he appeared to stumble. Pronger then struck McAmmond across the cheek with a forearm, sending the player to the ice and into the end boards. McAmmond was knocked cold and required assistance to leave the ice. NO PENALTY?!? A suspension is almost a lock here. If McAmmond is concussed Pronger needs to get 3-5 games(done for the series) That's unlikely and the league will probably wimp out again and give the Duck backliner a 1 game, again. The only good thing was that Pronger put the Senators winning goal into his own cage.

9) All this sets up a very exciting scenario for Game 4! As we always say, we at FAUXRUMORS have no rooting interest for any team, but in the case of the playoffs we want the games to mean something and be exciting. So to that end we were happy to see the Sens win/make a series of the Finals. Hopefully we'll see a continuation of the exciting hockey Monday night!

15 comments:

Cincy said...

Excellent points. Great game. Oh what difference it makes to play in a city where the general population is actually aware of the game.

One point of disagreement. Video of the Alfredsson goal WAS conclusive. It was entirely clear that there was no distinct kicking motion. Unlike the goal that was disallowed in the Ranger-Sabres series, they got the call right this time. That said, I do agree that the rules should allow ANY goal to count even if it's off a skate - kicking or otherwise.

FAUX RUMORS said...

1) As far as the kicking the puck into the net is concerned, the main issue we have is the lack of consistency in the rule interpretation.
2) To that end its impossible in our opinion to say what is and what isn't 'conclusive' if the rule is applied differently from game to game.

Cincy said...

It's probably safe to say that any rule that requires an adverb ("distinct") will by its very definition be subject to inevitable - if not frequent - problems with consistency of interpretation.

Shuck-A-Luck said...

Consistency is important, but not if the call is consistently wrong. In the Buffalo situation the call was wrong. Being consistent with that call would have made the NHL wrong again. Two wrongs don't make a right-oh how cliche, sorry!

Perhaps the NHL spent more time reviewing the Buffalo situation and clarified things with the Video Review team to ensure future calls are correct? I know as a Bettman basher you would never give credit for such an act, but my concern is the NHL making the correct calls. Last night was the correct call.

FAUXRUMORS 2 said...

1) The skate rule is getting to be like the silly 'in the crease' rule of the late 90's. No one likes the rule, and it gets interpreted differently from game to game
2) The rules committee needs to sit down and just make it allowable to score using a skate or any other body part. The only thing that should be disallowed is closing the hand on the puck. All else should be OK.
3) This won't drasticly increase scoring, but at least it won't hinder it, and more importantly, will eliminate another grey area that seems to have officials/players/coaches/broadcastersrs/fans confused

Antzmarching said...

I have seen approximately 10 instances this year in which the identical Alfredsson "kick" was ruled NO GOAL... The NHL can't even handle video replay properly... Here's something, ANY way the puck gets into the net, with the exception of throwing it in, let it count... Just another idea - it couldn't be worse than blowing virtually EVERY review...

VLAD THE IMPALER said...

Just to get away from the skate issue. Does anyone else think that the Senators are still in trouble? Giguere didn't play all that great in game 3, but was the victim of several bad breaks that led to goals. Ray Emery on the other hand looked horrible. even when he made a save he left the puck in the slot for a secondary shot. Giggy seems to absorb shots not snd them back out to waiting sticks like Emery. That's why I think the Sens are still in big trouble.

Lyle said...

Guys the reason kicking is disallowed is mostly for safety reasons. Can you imagine a scrum in front of the net with 3 players attempting to kick at the puck? We'd have a slew of dead goalies in no time! Sorry they have to keep that rule.

Antzmarching said...

Good observation, Faux... I was thinking the same thing the other night - Emery is awful at controlling rebounds... He gives second and third chances on the most harmless of shots... Ottawa MAY still be in some trouble... Realistically, they could lose game 3, and then they will need to win TWO in Anaheim... Anaheim may not have Pronger to suspension, but Ottawa has lost Spezza and Heatley to apathy...

Antzmarching said...

Sorry Vlad, I gave Faux the credit for the Emery rebound observation - I should have known it was you, as you seem quite focused on goaltending at all times... No need to impale here... LOL

Cincy said...

Emery clearly had a bad game on Saturday - yet the Sens won anyway. He's not a top-shelf netminder, but chances are that he makes up for his poor play with a much better performance tonight.

Anyone else think the 1 game sentence for Pronger was a wrist-slap? The usual method for determining sentence in these situations is to consider whether the hit was intentional (yes), the past history of the player (this is Pronger's 14th suspension), whether the infraction caused the injured player to miss games (almost a certainty), and whether the player has already been disciplined for the same type of infraction (yes - just 2 weeks ago in the Detroit series). Pronger received a 1 game benching for his last transgression. This time, even thought MacAmmon is concussed and Pronger was just suspended for the exact same thing he gets... ONE game again? No wonder Burke, Carlyle and Pronger were falling over themselves to say that the suspension was fair.

FAUX RUMORS said...

1) Sauce: Not only are "Burke, Carlyle and Pronger were falling over themselves to say that the suspension was fair." But Burke tried to muddy the waters/change the subject by saying that Neil's hit on McDonald was WORSE than Pronger's.
2) We have to give credit to Lyle for his 'kicking' insite. We can understand why kicking isn't allowed/condoned/encouraged. We can see it would be potentially dangerous. We wouldn't another Clint Malarchuk on our hands!
3) Yes, Antz, Both Vlad and we mentioned Emery's deficiencies as being a current and future problem for the Sens. Another bad goal and we were awaiting Gerber to step in.(Not that this would be any help!)

T. Lloyd said...

I never liked Chris Pronger. Have felt he's a bit over rated and very chippy. Now i think its clear he's a dirty player. Whoever said that they gave him a break on only getting a one game suspension because of who he is was right.
I like Burke. I think he's a great GM and all, but come on' man. To compare the Neil hit to prongers is dumb. Probably just trying to get into the refs heads

Cincy said...

Earth calling Lloyd. Earth calling Lloyd.

Pronger is 6-6, 220 lbs. Plus 27 for the season while averaging over 27 minutes a game. Plus 9 for the playoffs. Plus 10 for last year's playoffs. He's playing in his 2nd cup final in two years.

Dirty? Filthy as they come. But OVERRATED? You're kidding me, right?

FAUX RUMORS said...

1) Loved Antz's observation that the Senators will need a 'healthy' Heatley and Spezza (apathy injuries)
2) In fairness both were quite a bit better in game 3, but not anywhere they need to be to lead the team to victory. OK fellas, its game 4. Awake yet?
3) Lloyd: yes, pronger has develped quite a rep. deservedly so. We still believe he's an elite player, but he goes over the edge too often! We predicted the NHL 1 game suspension, but believed it deserved 3-5 minimum. Especially with his recent past of similar head shots. Is there a double standard? Of course!

 
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