Game 7 between the Capitals and Flyers is now going to overtime. A pretty good game with some (again) horrid officiating. It is difficult to know what gets a guy a penalty in this league any more. Ritual decapitation? Is that always a penalty? Even late in the third period of a tied game 7? Argh. The situational ethics of NHL officiating continue to frustrate me.
My picks for the goal scorer: for the Caps, I have to go with Ovechkin, he’s had at least four amazing chances so far tonight, the guy is just a force of nature; for the Flyers, I just know it’s going to be Daniel Briere, and then I’ll have to think about that stupid fist-pumping thing he does for the next few weeks.
Update: Crap! At least it wasn’t Briere. Dilemma: sounds like the Habs play the Flyers in the next round. I hate both teams.
Does it get better than a Game 7 OT?
Re the officiating I sometimes wonder at the much-decreased frequency in OT situations: do the players just become that much more disciplined or is there a mental off switch the officials throw? If it was me playing, I know as a game wears on I get tired and sloppy, so that must leave one choice …
Absolutely. Whistles get tucked in the refs’ pockets and it bothers me to no end. The game is suddenly played according to Hudson Bay rules.
That makes it all the more galling that the Flyers’ goal was scored on the power play; it’s tough to complain too much because 40 seconds before Poti got whistled, there was a “no call” when Sami Kapanen got hauled down by a Capital defender. Still, the one that was called was a far lesser infraction than the one that was not. Frustrating.
Consistency in the officiating, not from one game to another (though that would be swell), but within the same game should be of paramount importance to The League. Until the game is called consistently, and obvious blown calls such as what lead to the Fliers’ second goal no longer missed, The League will never be a first-tier league such as the NFL or MLB.
@ Steven P:
Agreed. As long as the players know the parameters of play, and those parameters are uniformly enforced, without reference to the current game situation, nobody could complain because the rules were the same for both teams THROUGHOUT the entire competition.
Your last name wouldn’t happen to be “Walkom”, would it?
Hate both teams? The three sweetest words, then:
FREAK ZAMBONI ACCIDENT
@Mike:
You got that right. C’mon, steering failure!!!
@all, sympathetic to Mikey.
this too:
ACT OF GOD!
@ mc_lothar:
Even better – insurance won’t cover the damage!