Ok, ok, the officiating was terrible for both sides. Diving continues to be the key way to earn a powerplay for the Sharks. I'd like to put the issue of crappy officiating to bed with three examples:
Example 1:
In the 3rd Period, Bertuzzi gets called for holding.... holding air apparently, which is illegal in their imaginary rule book. Bertuzzi, who was bigger than the defender (I think it was Doug Murray) muscled the defender to the puck. In so doing, the defender falls down and makes no attempt to get up until after he hits the boards. The officials call Bertuzzi for holding. 40 seconds or so into the Powerplay, the officials actually call a legit penalty on Kronwall and the Sharks even up the score. My contention is: Uh............. Bertuzzi shouldn't have been penalized. I saw Sharks pulling the same crap on the Wings during that period NO CALL. Fine if you want it to not be a call, but DON'T CALL IT ON EITHER SIDE!
Example 2:
Dany Heatley goes for Goaltender Interference. Heatley was CLEARLY pushed into Jimmy Howard. CLEARLY. But they called him anyways.
Example 3:
I cite this after Example 2 because I believe this is what gave the Sharks the initial powerplay. To be honest, I can't even remember who got the penalty. In any case, the Red Wing in question successfully stick checked the puck. In so doing, he struck the blade of a Shark's stick. The Shark immediately drops the stick and...VOILA! Slashing on the Red Wings.
Check this out... penalties were something like 10-4 in favor of the Sharks. Usually that is indicative of lopsided officiating... but after the third period ended, I'm not so sure.
Despite all of this, Howard played well and so did the Wings... sorta.
They were starting to put on pressure when they pulled Howard and committed the most retarded, most easily avoided, idiotic crime in hockey: TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE.
Seriously... HOW RETARDED CAN YOU BE?
At this point, with barely 90 seconds left in the game, I threw up my hands and said "Well, mail it in boys. Oh wait, you did. That's why you got caught." They even may have gotten away with 6 on 5 during the ensuing penalty kill!
All in all, this game was infuriating to watch because the Red Wings didn't beat the Sharks. The Sharks didn't beat the Red Wings. The Red Wings beat themselves.
They were ridiculously stupid and the officials were more than happy to "teach them a lesson" on top of it.
Really, if Colin Campbell thinks that WCHA quality officials is the best the NHL has to offer, then perhaps Campbell should be fired and go on to be head officiating consultant to the WCHA. This kind of crap we expect in the WCHA. Not in the NHL.
Oh well.
The Red Wings made their bed in this one. Gave crappy officials reasons to call ghost penalties on top of the numerous legit ones.
Well, now the task gets harder.
In lighter news, the Habs beat the Penguins. Looks like the powerhouse is gonna have to shoot for 5 instead of the sweep the media had Pittsburgh basically penned in for.
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ReplyDeleteAre you sure? I mean, you did read ALL of my post right? The part where I said "The Red Wings made their own bed in this one." Kinda clued most readers in to the fact that the officials didn't lose the game for the Red Wings. The Red Wings had something like 10 penalties and of those I saw, only 2 were BS. They happened at key points in the game so that's why my post was so scathing towards them.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of your comment:
I didn't see any diving on the penalties the Red Wings suckered the Sharks into taking.... oh wait... There were only 4 and one was cited in my post as being BS.
Take my red and white glasses off?
How's your rationale holding up? It's ok for the Sharks to be divers because, as a Shark fan, Red Wings are diving too?
What's next? Detroit started it?
What are you, like, 5?
The fact is, Devon Setoguchi is a classic diver. Or as the Shark media would call it: Skates on the toes of his skates creating a partial imbalance making it easier for him to fall down.
I'm surprised he wasn't flopping all over the ice last night. It was other Shark players this time. Its a disease.
Again the officiating had nothing to do with the Red Wings losing.
They had everything to do with ruining the integrity of the game. Even the commentators were questioning the calls in the 3rd period.
Where I come from, only the better officials work the playoffs.
If these officials are the better ones, then my adage about the NHL having the cream of the officiating crop may just be a bunch of bull.
So Redwing77 is Devon Setoguchi as bad as Garette Roe or Jacob C-Piss?
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ReplyDeleteDrew.Benson,
ReplyDeleteI watched the Sharks and Redwings last night and I am ecstatic that the Redwings are losing,I am hoping that they end up losing the series because the Redwing style of play and their team bores me to no end. I couldn’t be happier; however, officiating in this series has been atrocious. There may be some validity to their point of view.
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ReplyDeleteDREW.BENSON,
ReplyDeleteI think it's only natural for fans to be complain about the refs and in this spring's stanley cup playoffs I think fans of all fan bases have some grounds for their complaints...
First off,
ReplyDeleteGoon- No. Devon Setoguchi has FAR more talent than Roe or Cepis. But he's also smart. He understands that, if you are playing a finesse style and you are playing a physical team, if you can make it look worse than it is, you could draw a penalty.
Second, I'm not saying you are 5 because you are sick of hearing people having problems with the officiating. I'm saying you are acting immature because you insist that the Sharks diving is ok because Detroit is doing it too.
I've said this about EVERY team I follow and i'll say it again: IF A PLAYER ON ANY TEAM DIVES--SEND HIM TO THE BOX!
I don't care if it is Detroit or UND or WhocaresU. Diving is ILLEGAL and it should be called. PERIOD.
And since when did I use the officiating as an excuse for the Red Wings losing? We lost because we played stupid hockey. That's it. The Sharks played well, but not all that dominant (at least in Game 2). But we ALLOWED them to look that way.
And how do you know if Detroit's diving if you haven't watched any of the games? The radio personalities? Shoot! I can't even listen to Detroit's radio personalities because of their bias. They're all biased.
I use my Mark I God supplied Eyeballs. If I am forced to listen to the game, then I have to give the benefit of the doubt to whatever went on on the ice.
I'm not saying the Red Wings were the only victims either. Seriously... I'm still wondering what in the hell the official was thinking when he called that Shark for goaltender interference.
I actually enjoyed the Sharks commentators. Even with their bias to San Jose, they weren't unlistenable.
Case in point: Try listening to Pierre Maguire.
The Red Wings lost both games because they played stupid hockey.
The officials role in this was aggravating because of the fact that the NHL brags that the playoff and finals officials are supposedly the best they have to offer. When it turns out they're no better than those in amateur leagues, it's mind boggling.
As for diving, as I said, there's no place for that crap in the game. That's why it is illegal.
I hate the "knocking the stick out of the hand" slashing penalty, its complete bull sh**; if you break a player's stick that's a penalty, but if the guy can't hold on to his stick that is his problem. Does the NHL realize how easy it is to drop your stick when someone stick checks you, oh yeah that's right: exciting, not fair is the motto.
ReplyDeleteWhatup Drew, did you read the post really; do you know what you’re talking about really? I can't believe I’m defending a Redwing’s fan (but I love hockey period) and I think Redwing77 was being fair in the game analysis.
I’m sorry Goon, but in no way do I agree that Detroit equals boring hockey. They play like they can read each others minds and sometimes I hate them for it, but there is no doubt Detroit and Michigan for that matter are hockey machines.
Never Summer -
ReplyDeleteThanks for the backup. I know the Red Wings are easy to dislike. They've had a lot of success as of late and they do spend a lot of money (which builds attention if not arrogance).
I dislike that stick check thing too, but in this case, the stick made contact with the Shark player's stick where the blade touches the ice. SERIOUSLY, if that kind of a hit is going to knock the stick out of your hand you should go for embellishment (because he dropped the stick and then held up his hands).
Hold onto your stick.