Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals Wednesday night has left hockey fans everywhere, with the exception of maybe San Jose, scratching their heads. 🤔
The game in St. Louis ended with an incredibly controversial overtime goal when Timo Meier of the Sharks blatantly batted an airborne puck to his teammate which resulted in the OT ender by Erik Karlsson. To those unfamiliar with the rules of the NHL, Rule 79 specifically states that:
A player shall be permitted to stop or "bat" a puck in the air with his open hand and the play shall not be stopped unless he has directed the puck to a teammate.
The stands idled in anticipation as they awaited an overturn of the goal but it was unclearly concluded that “the play was non-reviewable” with no explanation as to why. St. Louis swarmed the refs expressing their frustration and the sea of blue in the bleachers stood in confusion before erupting in an uproar of bitter “boos”.
This is not the first questionable call that has resulted in a win during a playoff game this season. In fact, this is the third referee-resulting win that has fallen in favor of one of these two teams in particular this postseason. At this level of play and at this point in the season it is important and absolutely necessary that every call is the correct call. It has become extremely evident that the NHL has a big replay problem that needs to be addressed and decided on.
It’s 2019 and technology has reached an impressive peak, I mean, even 50 years ago we were able to put a freakin’ man on the moon! Yet here we are today, the NHL with every resource in the world to redress human error but they'll be selective as of when to use it. It’s simple either review every goal or review nothing and live with the inevitability of human inaccuracies.
Commenti