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instant replay Archive

NHL INVESTIGATING REPLAY “CHEATING” IN PHILLY

By
theOCD
Published: 12 January 2010 9:45 AM ESTPosted in: Spotlight

pittsburgh_penguins_blown_replay_call

The NHL has had some pretty embarrassing moments with replay this year. In the previous cases, the “errors” could have been chalked up to bad judgement or an attempt to save face. But word out of Philadelphia is that Fox Sports Pittsburgh have affected a call with their inability to provide “all available camera angles” of a replay.

If you didn’t know, the NHL replay process is somewhat ridiculous. All of the videos are reviewed by the league headquarters in Toronto. Apparently, Fox Sports Pittsburgh sent the NHL a bunch of replays that didn’t show Penguins goalie Brent Johnson dig the goal out of the net. The Flyers’ home station had decided not to use their video feed for the game so Fox Sports Pittsburgh had the only footage. The referee ruled that the replay was inconclusive and that there was no goal on the play. Had Simon Gagne’s tally counted, the score would have been 6-3 Pittsburgh. The NHL is investigating the matter… not that it makes a difference.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of replay reviews. Sure, we should want the “correct” calls, but it’s a lot like taking your shoes off at the airport to prevent “terror.” Replay review is guaranteed to make the games take longer. Even with it, there will always be judgment calls and bad calls. Now, we find out that the review process itself can be manipulated. So doesn’t that pretty much bring us back to square one? The threat of a bad call shouldn’t allow sports to be hijacked by frame-by-frame replays that often determine nothing.

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VIDEO: WORST CALL OF THE YEAR IN THE NHL

By
theOCD
Published: 19 November 2009 4:51 AM ESTPosted in: NHL

blown_replay_call_detroit_redwings_dallas_stars

The Red Wings fell 3-1 to the Stars last night. But it wasn’t without some help from the (horrendous) officiating. Detroit was denied a game-tying goal on a dubious botched call. With about 13 minutes left in the final period, Dallas backup goalie Alex Auld let a wrist shot get by. Everybody on the ice assumed he’d stopped it until Brad May noticed the puck was in the net.

The officials quickly called it “no goal” even though the whistle hadn’t stopped the play. Unsurprisingly, the referees went to the video review to confirm their call. If you didn’t know, the NHL has a hilarious replay policy where ALL plays are reviewed by the mysterious head office in Toronto. Here’s Able to Yzerman’s recap of head referee Dennis LaRue’s call:

“The whistle was blown to kill the play.” The whistle came at least a full second after the goal. What we have here is a LaRue or Auger screw-up, then a LaRue or Auger ego that won’t let them allow to admit, or even consider, their own mistake.

This is pure insanity. I don’t even understand how they got this one wrong. It’s not a judgment call or a 50/50 play or even some ridiculous NFL rule about what is a catch or fumble. It’s hard to even imagine the logic behind upholding the original ruling.

Oh, and here’s the awesome Brad May and Krys Barch fight from the game as well. Brad May looks like he could be an old timey sailor, but he’s actually an NHL enforcer. Here he takes on Krys Barch — the two men have now fought five times in the past three years. There are a ton of bombs in this one and ends up going pretty long. I give it an 8 out of 10.

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