I'm normally supportive of the Referees in the NHL. They have a tough job and a lot of critics are looking at calls as a fan, not as objective.
But I have to agree with a lot of what Rangers' Coach Tortorella said. The officiating was disgusting.
New York was penalized three times in the last five minutes. Once for delay of game, once for holding the stick, and once for covering the puck in the crease resulting in a penalty shot.
I will remove myself from talking about the quick whistles that others are saying happened throughout the game. I watched it on mute at a bar, so I have no idea when the whistles were blown*. But most of the complaints about the officials come from the final minutes.
First, where the officials got it right. The penalty shot.
Link to video
Many people (here, and here, and here) are claiming the officials said Ryan McDonagh closed his hand on the puck in the crease. The announcers said that. The officials didn't. In fact, you don't have to close your hand on the puck on the crease to be awarded a penalty shot. The announcers were wrong.
Rule 63.5:
"No defending player, except the goalkeeper, will be permitted to fall on the puck, hold the puck, pick up the puck, or gather the puck into the body or hands when the puck is within the goal crease. For infringement of this rule, play shall immediately be stopped and a penalty shot shall be ordered against the offending team, but no other penalty shall be given."
Clearly, McDonagh fell on the puck in the crease. A penalty shot should have been awarded. And it was. Who cares about his hand? It's not crucial to the awarding of a penalty shot.
Now, where the refs got it wrong.
The delay of game call.
That was bogus. Enough said. He was pushed into his own net*. I don't have video to back it up, but trust me when I say I'm in good company on this one.
But the bigger error was the empty net call of hooking and holding the stick. Hook? Yes. Holding the stick? Not so much. Maybe a dive because it draws attention to the hook, but even that's a bit of a stretch given part of the holding rule.
As defined by Rule 54.2: "A player is permitted to protect himself by defending against an opponent's stick. He must immediately release the stick and allow the player to resume normal play."
I would say that being hooked constitutes defending one's self by pushing it away. He did appear to hold on for a little too long, but again, that's more of a dive to draw a penalty to me than a holding the stick. However, there is a much bigger injustice here. Rule 55.6 under Hooking (which refers to Rule 57.4 - Tripping).
Rule 57.4: "If, when the opposing goalkeeper has been removed from the ice, a player in control of the puck in the neutral or attacking zone is tripped or otherwise fouled with no opposition between him and the opposing goal, thus preventing a reasonable scoring opportunity, the Referee shall immediately stop play and award a goal to the attacking team."
Am I crazy, or were those conditions not met?
1. Puck in neutral or attacking zone? Check.
2. No opposition between him and opposing goal?* Check.
3. Reasonable scoring opportunity prevented? Check.
4. Goalkeeper off the ice for an extra attacker? Check.
5. Fouled? Check.
And before you claim that the rule only applies to tripping and this was a hook: the hooking rule refers to the tripping guide for awarded goals. And hooking is included in Table 14 of the Rulebook (Summary of Awarded Goals - When Goalkeeper has been removed for an extra attacker) as being a type of foul that should result in an awarded goal under subsection (vii).
Even if Callahan was guilty of holding the stick (or perhaps a diving penalty by embellishing the hook), it's a non-issue. If it hadn't been for the hook, there would be no hold. And as soon as the hook took place, the goal should have been awarded.
The final score should have been 4-2 in my opinion. I also believe that the penalty shot was legit. So far, I'm the only one to have either of these opinions.
I'm no Rangers fan, but the intergrity of the game is more important than my predisposition against any one team.
*NOTE FROM HOCKEY COP: I am going off of memory for these two penalties (the hook/holding and the delay of game). I can't find video of them anywhere yet. I was also watching the game at a sports bar and the NHL Winter Classic was not on the biggest screen they had nor did most in the bar care for it. I do live in Atlanta, so yeah. There were a lot of distractions of a pigskin nature during my viewing experience, so I'm probably not the best judge on what exactly happened out there in Philadelphia today. I'm just grateful they actually had it on.
If my facts are wrong, I apologize. There may have been another defender between the goal and Callahan: I just don't remember there being one. If so, then the awarded goal argument is null and void. I'd then say it looked like a hook and dive at best. Either way, the Rangers should have won that game. And they did, so I guess all is okay-ish in the end.
Should I discover more information that is different than what I originally though it was, I will issue a retraction.
