The NHL made a mistake on Wednesday night by failing to recognize a faulty clock in Los Angeles. It cost the Columbus Blue Jackets a chance at two points. Fixing the problem wouldn't be too hard, though.
Feb 2, 2012 - The Columbus Blue Jackets have had a rough year, to say the least, and Wednesday night's incident in Los Angeles will no doubt add to the list.
With the game tied at 2-2 late in the third period at Staples Center, the Kings were on a power play, pressing in the Columbus end as time began to run out.
Drew Doughty carried the puck at the point and shuffled it across to Anze Kopitar. Kopitar's blast found its way to the net, bounced around between the four Blue Jackets players all boxed in the slot. It somehow found its way back out to Doughty, who ripped a shot low to goaltender Curtis Sanford's blocker side.
The puck was in the net. The crowd was cheering. The green light wasn't on, signaling the end of the period, but the red light, signaling goal, was.
But ah, wait a second. Did the puck really beat the clock?
From the FS Ohio broadcast of the game:
Yes, the puck beat the clock. But the clock decided to take a nap while at work.
As you can very clearly see in the video, the clock stopped with 1.8 seconds remaining, froze for about two seconds, and then kept counting down. Doughty scored with either 0.4 seconds left or 0.3 left, depending on your eyes, but either way, with as long as that clock froze, there's no way this goal should have counted.
It appeared as though, in real-time, linesman Jonny Murphy noticed the clock malfunction. Here's a screen grab immediately after the clock started running again, and you'll notice Murphy in the far corner waiving something off:
Then, immediately after the goal is scored, Murphy skated over to referee Stephen Walkom, who had signaled that Doughty scored a good goal.
They made the trip over to the scorers table, and after a relatively short discussion with the War Room in Toronto, Walkom signaled that the goal counted. The Kings retreated to their locker room in celebration mode, while the Blue Jackets limped away to their quarters for the 32nd time this season.
Mistakes happen, video review is not fool-proof. We understand that, and it's okay, even when the mistakes are pretty obvious and pretty egregious. But perhaps the worst part in this case is that if you were to visit NHL.com this morning, you would have no idea there was even a controversy late Wednesday night on the West Coast. Not a single clue.
Click to enlarge.
The video of the goal linked there on the league's website is from the Los Angeles broadcast, which didn't mention the clock malfunction. To be fair, we're not sure they noticed it at all. They didn't even notice it on the Columbus broadcast until just before they went off the air following the game.
To say the NHL didn't notice it, however, whether in the War Room or at NHL.com, is a stretch. So it's pretty convenient that the NHL.com video clip picks up the overhead clock view just following the freeze:
And the NHL's Situation Room blog, which explains decisions made on video review each time they occur? Not a single mention of the Kings-Blue Jackets game.
We're not saying the NHL is trying to cover up their mistake here, but, well.... alright, the NHL is trying to cover up their mistake here. I suppose they can't admit the mistake, because then the Blue Jackets will complain. Here's interim coach Todd Richards speaking about the incident after the game via the Columbus Dispatch:
"I don't have any official report," Blue Jackets interim coach Todd Richards said. "But watching the replay and talking to the producer who does our show (on Fox Sports Ohio), the clock stopped at 1.8 and stopped for 1.5 seconds. They scored with 0.5. "I'm really disappointed for the players."
This really is an easy fix, though. Take a point away from the Kings for the time being -- they can't possibly complain, because it's so obvious that they didn't score this goal on time -- and when the Kings host the Blue Jackets on March 8, pick this game up at the start of overtime. Decide who gets the extra point, then take a typical intermission break before starting the first period of the scheduled contest.
It's not the perfect solution. Kings fans who attended Wednesday night at Staples Center might feel robbed, but really, they got to see 60 full minutes of hockey. Fans in Columbus, meanwhile, stayed up late for a West Coast game and certainly went to bed much angrier than any Kings fan who attended this game could feel.
It's clear what the NHL should do here: Admit the mistake and give the fans at Nationwide Arena some extra hockey on March 8. They won't do that, of course, but man, could you imagine how much differently we'd view them if they did?
7 comments
Travis Hughes:
Blue Jackets Vs. Kings: Did The NHL Try To Hide Game-Deciding Clock Malfunction?
7
Feb 2
Comments
west coast bias
SBN Fantasy Hockey Blog: Fantasy Hockey Scouts
by Cam Collingwood on Feb 2, 2012 11:59 AM EST reply actions
The NHL is a joke when it comes to reinforcing their rules.
When they want certain teams to win, they win. That’s all there is to it.
"Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
by Moshe52792 on Feb 2, 2012 2:20 PM EST reply actions
Yup.
That’s why the Hurricanes (of RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA) and Lightning (OF TAMPA, FLORIDA) have been in the Stanley Cup three times in the last ten years.
I gotta stop takin' my baths durin' Peter's shenanigans.
by MichaelProcton on Feb 2, 2012 10:07 PM EST up reply actions
This is pretty darn bad
And what’s worse is that it’s Steven Walkom, former head of officiating, and the man on the receiving end of Colin Campbell’s infamous email campaign against certain referees on behalf of son Gregory (the passing reference to Savard as a “fake artist” particularly damning in the face of his complete non-reaction to Cooke’s de-braining of Savard).
The right thing to do here would be to conduct any investigation with the same transparency Brendan Shanahan has shown as head of player safety. At the very least, make an official statement on any decision and the rules justification thereof. I am continuing to breathe normally while I wait for that.
We may be in the box, but you get the penalty.
Lighthouse Hockey - a beacon of greatness on the rocky coast of sports blog mediocrity
Non-hockey scribblings at nightflyblog
by mikb on Feb 2, 2012 4:46 PM EST reply actions
The linesman is not waving off the goal, in my opinion. I think he’s saying the play should continue because there’s no high stick. Walkom pointed at the net and indicated a goal.
Also, the league isn’t hiding anything as far as I can see, since they launched an investigation.
Even when the league admits error, as they did in a goal call involving the Panthers last year, that has never happened and it never will. You cannot recreate the exact conditions of that game. Once it’s over, it’s over. However bad the screwup.
Dinglebarnin' It JftC
by Niesy on Feb 2, 2012 7:21 PM EST reply actions
Good call on the linesman thing.
This was written before they launched that investigation, but you and I both know that investigation is going nowhere. And you’re right in that it’s never happened, but how often does a play/wrong call at the final buzzer decide a game like this?
If they kept playing hockey for 20 minutes after this, yeah… totally different situation. You can’t replay the game. But this was the final play of the game. The horn was going to sound and they were going to go to OT had the call be corrected. It’s not like they’re erasing any hockey. They’re just fixing the call and continuing the game… so what if it’s in a different arena?
Visit the BSH Store :: Get us on Twitter :: facebook, too!
Broad Street Hockey - Covering the Philadelphia Flyers. Have you accepted Ilya Bryzgalov as your savior?
by Travis Hughes on Feb 2, 2012 10:19 PM EST up reply actions
Replaying the game can never be a perfect way to make things fair. The rosters would have to be identical (no trades). Everyone would have to have the same injuries, and be playing on the exact same amount of rest. You cannot go home again.
If something does happen where they even entertain that idea, I’d speculate that it’s because the league is no big fan of the Kings (Lombardi accused a league official of being unethical and was fined $50,000). But as even Colin Campbell has repeated several times, once the league has made a ruling on a game — even if the league later admits an error — the results are final. They’d be overturning their own rulebook and a hell of a lot of precedent.
No, I don’t know that. That’s an assumption. The league even flat out said “the goal shouldn’t have counted” before they even looked into it.
What I want to have them do is go through the entire third period and check the time. They should have no qualms investigating a clock because it’s not a ref and it’s not the war room. They might protect a time keeper, since he’s a league official — but there’s more evidence today that the clock pause has happened in other games at Staples (and the Kings in no way benefited from it). It should be pretty easy to figure out if it was malfunctioning or simply recalibrating itself.
Dinglebarnin' It JftC
by Niesy on Feb 3, 2012 2:11 PM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed