PITTSBURGH — They got it right in St. Louis on nullifying that Blues goal on the offside video review Friday night, and isn’t that, a) what the rule is designed to do; and, b) the only thing that matters?
Nowhere is it spelled out that only egregiously bad offside calls be overturned. There is no Leon Stickle Amendment, named for the linesman who somehow missed the Islanders being offside by two feet before scoring the 2-1 goal in the eventual 5-4 overtime Game 6 Cup winner over the Flyers at the Coliseum in 1980.
Offside calls are like those dozens of bang-bang plays at first base, or tag plays at second or at home plate that, under the microscope, are incorrect. We long suspected many of the calls were wrong, but without either the technology or the willingness to remove the “human element” from the game, we all lived with them and moved on. We recognized that though Stickle blew it, that mistake did not alter the course of history.
The Flyers still had more than 45 minutes left in the game to erase the 2-1 deficit, which in fact they did in under five minutes.
So no, the offside review worked as intended in St. Louis in negating what first appeared to be the Blues’ 2-1 go-ahead goal midway through the third period of Game 2 vs. the Blackhawks because Jori Lehtera’s back skate was not in contact with the ice/blue line when the Blues entered the zone.
There is a pretty good argument to be made that the offside rule should be changed now that cameras in the boards at the lines can detect whether a skate has broken the plane of the line, but that’s not the issue here.
The issue here is the play was offside, and had the goal stood, it would have been an illegal one. What’s to celebrate about that?
But. The NHL always should be able to make available for immediate viewing either the definitive video or definitive screen shot the review folks used to make the call. If the angle is good enough to reverse a call, then it must be shown to the public as quickly as possible.
Now, the goaltender interference review is a mess. There is no proof whatsoever that correct calls result from challenge even a majority of the time, let alone at anything close to a 100 percent rate.
Phil Kessel didn’t interfere with Antti Raanta on Wednesday? Please. Andrew Shaw didn’t shove Brian Elliott just before scoring the third-period goal that gave Chicago a 2-1 lead but withstood a challenge? Stop right now.
There is no more clarity about the definition of goaltender interference after a full season of the coach’s challenge than there was on opening night. Reviewing goaltender interference is akin to reviewing pass interference in football — which, by the way, the NFL does not, because it is essentially impossible to review subjective calls objectively.
Alex Ovechkin, Joe Thornton and Henrik Lundqvist are the most prominent players in the tournament seeking to win the Cup for the first time. Slap Shots’ ranking of the 25 greatest players in NHL history who retired without hoisting the chalice for the victory lap:
25: Jeremy Roenick; 24: Norm Ullman; 23: Borje Salming; 22: Mike Gartner; 21. Rick Middleton; 20. Phil Housley; 19: Bill Gadsby; 18. Darryl Sittler; 17. Keith Tkachuk; 16. Ed Giacomin; 15. Dale Hawerchuk; 14. Doug Wilson; 13. Pat LaFontaine; 12. Rod Gilbert; 11. Adam Oates.
10. Mats Sundin; 9. Pavel Bure; 8. Cam Neely; 7. Eric Lindros; 6. Gilbert Perreault.
5. Mark Howe; 4. Peter Stastny; 3. Jean Ratelle; 2. Marcel Dionne.
1. Brad Park.
The Rangers cautiously believe they will be able to sign Pavel Buchnevich and get their 2013 third-rounder into camp in September, even while understanding what happens in Russia sometimes stays in Russia.
Actually, management is hoping that it might be possible to bring the winger to New York within the next couple of weeks — if the Rangers extend their stay in the playoffs — in order to have him begin to acclimate himself to the operation.
“We’re hopeful we’re going to be able to get it done,” general manager Jeff Gorton told Slap Shots on Friday. “We know he wants to play in the NHL. This is his opportunity.”
Buchnevich, who celebrates his 20th birthday on Sunday, apparently suffered some sort of wrist injury while working out with the National Team within the last couple of weeks, but details are foggy.
Guaranteed to happen because it already has has happened: Some serious chatter reaching Slap Shots that, yes, the Canadiens are more than prepared to listen to offers for P.K. Subban — whose $9 million cap charge that runs through 2021-22 (or the post-lockout amnesty buyout period) is going to be as large a part of the conversation as the Spirit of 76’s persona.
When the coach of a team that has missed the playoffs four consecutive seasons develops a personal relationship with one of the owners, that generally is not good news for the general manager of the club who has also missed four straight years, is it, Don Maloney?
Reggie Jackson says that if John Tavares played in Manhattan, they would name a candy bar for him.