Wow! I have never seen anything like this. This is Wild. This is the description of the goal from the Buffalo Sabres site. You may never seen anything like this again.
Smith slid backward into the net to prevent a rebound opportunity not knowing the puck was in his equipment. A review of the play confirmed the puck crossed the line.
You had to wonder after listening to some the comments that were made by the Phoenix Coyotes - during post game interviews - if there was going to be repercussions from the NHL. I understand that the refs weren't as good as they could have been.
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN.COM --- The NHL is further investigating the postgame actions and comments of some Phoenix Coyotes players after their season-ending, overtime loss in the Western Conference finals, league executive vice president Colin Campbell told ESPN.com on Thursday.
The league is not pleased with some of what happened after Dustin Penner's overtime winner Tuesday night for the Kings, including Coyotes center Martin Hanzal skating aggressively toward a referee and making a gesture, goalie Mike Smith throwing his stick and Keith Yandle's postgame comment in which he suggested it was no surprise the calls didn't go his team's way given the similar colors of the refs' and Kings' uniforms.
"Their actions were unprofessional and unacceptable," Campbell told ESPN.com
Most of us that watched the games this season during the Stanley Cup Playoffs realize that there have been a lot of questionable calls made on the ice in "all" of the series to date. That being said, there is a level of professionalism that NHL hockey players are supposed to exhibit and some of the Coyotes' post game comments were over-the-top and questionable.
The National Hockey League has acted swiftly and suspended Phoenix Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal for boarding Kings forward Dustin Brown during the third period of last nights game. For his efforts Hanzal will miss Thursday night's game in Los Angeles, California between the Kings and the Coyotes.
NEW YORK -- Phoenix Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal has been suspended for one game for boarding Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown during Game 2 of the teams’ Western Conference Final playoff series Tuesday in Phoenix, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.
The incident occurred at 11:01 of the third period. Hanzal was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding.
As with any suspension there are going to be fans that aren't happy with the suspension or think the suspension should be longer and isn't tough enough. I actually think Brown is lucky he wasn't hurt during the hit.
I think when a goalie does this type of a bush leagues move it opens him up to reprisals. While I don't condone this move by Smith - sometimes this tactic works because it sends a message to other forwards - in essence Smith is telling the Kings that the Phoenix goal crease is not a place to be fooling around and you might want to watch yourself while you're around the crease area.
Penalties assessed: Smith was given a two minute minor for slashing and Dustin Brown was given a two minute minor for diving. Personally, I think the diving penalty that was assessed to Brown was a horrible call.
Phoenix Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal has a hearing today with the NHL's department of Player Safety and after looking at the video – I would imagine that Hanzal "should" get at least a one or two game suspension for this brutal hit on Kings forward Dustin Brown.
NHL.COM --- Phoenix Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal will have a disciplinary hearing Wednesday with the NHL Player Safety Department following a boarding incident in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday.
Hanzal was penalized when he pushed the Kings' Dustin Brown from behind into the boards at 11:01 of the third period. Hanzal was assessed a five-minute major for boarding and a game-misconduct.
At the 11:o1 mark of the third period Phoenix's Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal's drove the Kings forward Dustin Brown into the boards with push check. Hanzal was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for this play and could end up with a hearing with the Department of Player Safety for this hit.
The Coyotes forward Shane Doan was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for this hit on the Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Lewis at the 16:29 mark of the second period of last night's game. On this play I believe the refs made the right call even though Lewis did turn towards the boards at the last second; the refs had no choice to give Doan a major penalty on this play.
I saw this goal live (on TV) and I was completely blown away with the call. So were the fans. So was the commentators... and so was LA GM Dean Lombardi, who blasted NHL Review official Mike Murphy. And Lombardi is paying $50,000 for doing so.
My Opinion
This is a NO GOAL. Every angle has the puck being hit when it was, at best, even with the crossbar. I can't find an angle where his stick wasn't above the crossbar until after the puck was headed to the net. And, no, I'm not trying to defend LA Kings defenseman and former UND stud Matt Greene (#2 pictured).
As for Lombardi, his comments were ridiculous! He stated, in effect, that the reason why Toronto (and Mike Murphy) didn't overrule the on ice officials was because Lombardi got the GM position instead of Murphy! That's dumb. However, complaining because it was a bad call was dumb, but justified. In other words, had Lombardi come out and said that Toronto made a bad call, and gotten fined for saying so, I'd be defending Lombardi. Saying what he said was just stupid.
The NHL, however, responded by saying, in effect, that the job of Toronto isn't to overrule the officials, but to get the call right. Well, that's nice, but I've never seen the on ice official get overruled to get the call wrong. The instant replay system is designed to ensure that, true enough, the correct call is made, but also to ensure that the officials are calling the reviewed play correctly. Whether or not the on ice official is overruled is irrelevant. If overruling the officials on every single replay in a game results in the right calls being made, then who the hell cares about the on ice officials?
