Cam Ward removes own mask as Rangers shot enters net (gif and rules in OP)

[PatriceBergeronFan]

This is embarrassing to the game. Similar to the breakaway that AHL goalie ruined by knocking the net over.

Disgrace. Worse than diving even.

 

[benedictTavares]

Yeah soo much safer for a goalie to rip his helmet off when a slapshot is coming right at him, than to have a broken strap on it...

#1 He might not have known the extent of the damage.
#2 lol if you think he knew the show was coming when he took it off. Did you watch the game? I did

This is embarrassing to the game. Similar to the breakaway that AHL goalie ruined by knocking the net over.

Disgrace. Worse than diving even.

Did you watch the play even? No way he saw the shot coming.

 

[MysticLeviathan]

This is embarrassing to the game. Similar to the breakaway that AHL goalie ruined by knocking the net over.

Disgrace. Worse than diving even.

The thing with the AHL play is no rules were broken and the right call was made. The AHL guy just took advantage of the rule. In this, the ref made a bad call. Had the ref followed the rules the way the AHL refs did on Leggio's play, the goal would've counted. They're two very different situation.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

The thing with the AHL play is no rules were broken and the right call was made. The AHL guy just took advantage of the rule. In this, the ref made a bad call. Had the ref followed the rules the way the AHL refs did on Leggio's play, the goal would've counted. They're two very different situation.

True, based on technicalities they are different. Based on the spirit of the game both are borderline trashy, reprehensible plays. No integrity or respect by those players for the game they earn salary for playing.

 

[tarheelhockey]

And that's why the call was wrong.

Say what?

You've been laser-focused on the fact that the puck was on its way to the net when the play was blown dead. But the play had already been determined to be dead before that point -- specifically, at the point when the mask was broken and a scoring opportunity wasn't going on. Rule 32.1 is what makes the call valid... not wrong.

I realize the ref was slow on the whistle, but that doesn't mean he made the wrong call. Rule 32.1 is there specifically to make slow whistles a non-issue.

Of course there is, just like if a player's skate blade falls off, which I saw I believe last year, maybe it was earlier this year, the guy's blade just came right off his skate and he had to hop on one leg to get to the bench. The play didn't stop for him, the onus was on him. It's no different here.

Of course it's different here. If rule 14.1, the one you quoted, was meant to say that play couldn't be stopped in order to adjust or repair goalie equipment -- there would be no stoppage when his helmet falls off. They would just play on, as if he were a regular skater with no helmet.

That's what I mean when I say it's not the operative rule. In the case of goalie masks, rule 9.5 supersedes rule 14.1. And for good reason, as a damaged goalie mask is a significant safety hazard.

Or maybe was talking out of his rear and didn't want to get any investigation by the league by blatantly saying he intentionally took off his helmet. It was so clear and obvious from the replay he took it off on purpose, you're grasping for straws here.

Nobody's saying he didn't take it off on purpose, but all he said in the interview was "it fell off my head". It's not like he denied touching it, or tried to sell a different sequence of events, or anything like that. He wasn't asked whether he caused it to fall off or not.

I seriously, seriously doubt he was choosing his words to avoid an "investigation". Come on.

 

[tarheelhockey]

True, based on technicalities they are different. Based on the spirit of the game both are borderline trashy, reprehensible plays. No integrity or respect by those players for the game they earn salary for playing.

The dude just got hit in the face by a shot hard enough to break his mask. What, was he supposed to get up and play with the broken mask flopping around his face?

 

[MysticLeviathan]

Say what?

You've been laser-focused on the fact that the puck was on its way to the net when the play was blown dead. But the play had already been determined to be dead before that point -- specifically, at the point when the mask was broken and a scoring opportunity wasn't going on. Rule 32.1 is what makes the call valid... not wrong.

I realize the ref was slow on the whistle, but that doesn't mean he made the wrong call. Rule 32.1 is there specifically to make slow whistles a non-issue.

Again, play cannot be stopped for a broken strap, it can only be stopped when the helmet comes off the goalie, EXCEPT if there's an imminent scoring chance, which was the case when Ward's helmet came off his head. You're acting like when Brassard knocked into Ward's helmet, his helmet was already off him, it wasn't. His helmet came off only once he took it off, which was after the shot had been taken and was on its way into the net. It has nothing to do with late whistles, it's that the ref blew the whistle dead when he shouldn't have.

Of course it's different here. If rule 14.1, the one you quoted, was meant to say that play couldn't be stopped in order to adjust or repair goalie equipment -- there would be no stoppage when his helmet falls off. They would just play on, as if he were a regular skater with no helmet.

That's what I mean when I say it's not the operative rule. In the case of goalie masks, rule 9.5 supersedes rule 14.1. And for good reason, as a damaged goalie mask is a significant safety hazard.

As I said, 14.1 and 9.5 are two different things, they are independent of one another, they don't contradict one another like you seem to think. 9.5 talks about specifically when a goalie deliberately takes his mask off, which is precisely what happened. 14.1 talks about equipment and adjustments in general, which in this case is the broken strap. The only rule that applied was 14.1, until he took his mask off, which is when 9.5 applied. Once 9.5 went into affect, the part about the imminent scoring chance was already in effect, as the shot had been taken by then.

Nobody's saying he didn't take it off on purpose, but all he said in the interview was "it fell off my head". It's not like he denied touching it, or tried to sell a different sequence of events, or anything like that. He wasn't asked whether he caused it to fall off or not.

When you physically take the mask off, as in yank it off your head the way he did, that's no longer "falling off", that's taking off. You're grasping at straws here.

I seriously, seriously doubt he was choosing his words to avoid an "investigation". Come on.

It seems little different than when a pitcher who hit a batter when it's obvious he did, that it was an accident. Obviously you can't prove it the way you can with Ward, but I see it as a similar concept. If the pitcher says "yeah, I meant to throw at him." he'll get a 5 game suspension, as we've seen in the past. If he says it was an accident, despite all signs point to its being on purpose, the league won't do anything. It was a very odd choice of words for Ward to use to describe the situation.

 

[MysticLeviathan]

The dude just got hit in the face by a shot hard enough to break his mask. What, was he supposed to get up and play with the broken mask flopping around his face?

What are you talking about? Why are you acting like his mask cracked in half? His back strap broke, that's all, and the mask was still in tact. That is until he yanked it off his head.

But yes, the goalie is expected to play like that until either his team gets possession of the puck, or the puck goes out of the zone and/or there's no longer an imminent scoring chance. That is if the refs follow the rules the way they're written.

 

[Bps21*]

This is how a real man does it:



No ref coming to bail him out.

 

[MysticLeviathan]

This is how a real man does it:



No ref coming to bail him out.

And this is what happens when the ref follows the rules. There was an imminent scoring chance there, so the ref didn't blow the whistle.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Again, play cannot be stopped for a broken strap, it can only be stopped when the helmet comes off the goalie,

Except that the standard has been consistently upheld for decades that a broken mask strap is equivalent to losing the mask altogether.

I've already agreed with you that this standard should be codified in the rulebook, to eliminate any need to debate it in the future.

But to act so indignant about the application of that standard in this instance, when it's been applied exactly that way in every other case that anyone here can remember -- well, I just don't know what you're expecting here. It's like the high-sticking standard, if you have a guy bleeding all over the place you're going to expect a double-minor because everyone who follows hockey understands that's the standard. In this case, everyone who follows hockey understands that a broken mask strap is enough to stop play.

When you physically take the mask off, as in yank it off your head the way he did, that's no longer "falling off", that's taking off. You're grasping at straws here.

He couldn't have "yanked" it if he had wanted to -- he was using his catching glove.

All he did was swipe across the back of it, and it fell right off with no resistance. That's undoubtedly what he meant by "it fell off", since he wasn't asked to go into any more detail than that.

It seems little different than when a pitcher who hit a batter when it's obvious he did, that it was an accident. Obviously you can't prove it the way you can with Ward, but I see it as a similar concept. If the pitcher says "yeah, I meant to throw at him." he'll get a 5 game suspension, as we've seen in the past. If he says it was an accident, despite all signs point to its being on purpose, the league won't do anything. It was a very odd choice of words for Ward to use to describe the situation.

You're implying that Ward had anything whatsoever to fear by telling the truth.

Goalies are told to take off their masks when they're broken. His mask was broken so he knocked it off. I'm sure if he had been directly asked whether he took it off or if it fell off on its own, he would have given the reporter a weird look and asked if she'd actually watched the film yet.

What are you talking about? Why are you acting like his mask cracked in half? His back strap broke, that's all, and the mask was still in tact. That is until he yanked it off his head.

LOL, "yanked".

Anyway, I'm really not sure what you're taking issue with -- he got hit by a shot hard enough to break his mask. Are you actually disputing whether the mask was broken now?

 

[tarheelhockey]

And this is what happens when the ref follows the rules. There was an imminent scoring chance there, so the ref didn't blow the whistle.

The Canes also had possession of the puck through that entire sequence, as opposed to having it carom away to the boards and having to go retrieve it. That's, you know, kind of a critical difference.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

The gnawing and gnashing of teeth over a play that has happened dozens of times before is a little silly. Ward did what, literally, every other NHL goalie has done in their career. If the strap breaks on your mask, you remove it to stop play and get it fixed.

Quick has done it.
Price has done it.
Lundqvist has done it (In fact, IIRC, Lundqvist had a game where his strap broke and he removed it while play was down the ice. The ref didn't see it, so he had to hastily put it back on and make a save when the play returned to his zone. Lundqvist promptly chewed the official out.)

The only debate is whether play should have been stopped due to the mask breaking, and that all depends on when the official noticed Ward's mask had broke. Since the video showed the official behind Ward's net while the puck was along the boards, I'd say he noticed it well before the goal was scored.

 

[Sanderson]

Looks like the right call to be, Brassard makes contact with Ward's head and Ward reacts to his mask being damaged. The shot clearly came after the mask was off. In addition to that, Ward was most definately not looking to the point, but was busy with his mask. Accusing him of removing his mask to prevent a goal is ridiculous, because he couldn't even know a shot was coming. It's hard for a goalie to illegally prevent a scoring chance he doesn't even know exists.

 

[Chimpradamus]

I'm just waiting for a play like this to happen, where the goalie shoves his mask off and takes a slap shot straight to the face. Because he didn't want to get hurt. Which would be ironic.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

strap is broken, goalie did what he is supposed to do, those are the rules and the protocol

 

[Jumptheshark]

Goaltenders are told to remove their mask the minute the strap breaks for the referee to stop play.

He didn't remove his mask the minute it broke. He waited for the guy to shoot.

Complete ******** call. The puck was in the net when Cam takes his own mask off. That should be a goal period.

goal should have counted. discussions like only none involved fans should be involved.

 

[Brooklanders*]

After reevaluating and watching the replay over and over I conclude refs made right decision.

 

[Bps21*]

The enroth play actually should have been stopped before that. He took a hard puck off the mask...was telling the ref that it was messed up and they should have stopped when he was hit...ref gave zero ***** and he took it off. Then had to make two saves.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Imminent scoring opportunty, my ass. The Rangers didn't even have the puck when the ref realized something was wrong with Ward, and took the shot after realizing Ward wasn't paying attention.

It also needs to be mentioned: the rules say, in black and white, that play will be stopped if the helmet is off unless there is an imminent scoring chance. What constitutes "off" is not defined in the rules, but refs seem to consider a broken helmet as "off", and will proceed as such. And have indicated this to Ward and the others.

" imminent scoring chance" isn't defined either, so that is also left to intetpretation by the ref. Deal with it.

 

[AwesomePanthers]

Thats Quick typical..

 

[Smokey McCanucks]

They need to hit him with some discipline on this, it's an unsafe play and the NHL can't have the rules incentivizing goalies ditching their masks in the middle of play. Fine him and make it an automatic unsportsmanlike conduct for the goalie to pull this stuff, it's dangerous.

 

[Doctyl]

The gnawing and gnashing of teeth over a play that has happened dozens of times before is a little silly. Ward did what, literally, every other NHL goalie has done in their career. If the strap breaks on your mask, you remove it to stop play and get it fixed.

Quick has done it.
Price has done it.
Lundqvist has done it (In fact, IIRC, Lundqvist had a game where his strap broke and he removed it while play was down the ice. The ref didn't see it, so he had to hastily put it back on and make a save when the play returned to his zone. Lundqvist promptly chewed the official out.)

The only debate is whether play should have been stopped due to the mask breaking, and that all depends on when the official noticed Ward's mask had broke. Since the video showed the official behind Ward's net while the puck was along the boards, I'd say he noticed it well before the goal was scored.

The NHL rules say that the ref is not supposed to stop play when there is an impending scoring chance. That's just the rules, and the red threw them out the window on this play.

 

[Doctyl]

strap is broken, goalie did what he is supposed to do, those are the rules and the protocol

Aside from the rule where play should have continued

 

[wunderpanda]

What is the rule about punching the goalie in the back of the head? That happened prior to Ward removing his broken mask. If that was Staal hitting Lundqvist in the head nobody would be talking about helmet removal.