News Article: Media call out on dangerous hit on McDavid

[BoldNewLettuce]

From this it sounds like NHL refs have the same training as WWE refs.

So hockey is scripted as well eh.

 

[Fourier]

Great post. Kerry Fraser opined on the hit today on twitter and his response spoke volumes:



The idea that the refs are responsible for ensuring the flow of the game needs to go. I have no idea where that comes from.

The key phrase is "keep game fair". The problem is it seems this means allowing lesser players a fair chance vs McDavid by holding, hooking, slashing etc.

 

[frag2]

It's funny he follows up with this though. IMO, why the F does a dangerous play and how it's penalized depend on how injured the victim is? A dangerous play is dangerous play

 

[rboomercat90]

IMO, everyone misses the forest for the trees as far as what's going on with the reffing.

The reason they chose not make some calls where McDavid and other star players are concerned is they have a weird mandate, spoken or unspoken, to police the parity in every game. They don't want to let one player draw like 4 calls a game because that would favor one team.

Every once in a while they'll get a new mandate from the league to focus on one specific thing (obstruction, slashing, goalie interference) and they'll go crazy on that for like 2 months before everything just reverts to the mean. But as long as they have the freedom to put their whistles away one day, call everything the next, do make-up calls and dictate the temp. of each game, this is going to stay a problem. It's not about some kind of axe their grinding.

And the league can't do that much about it as long as ex-refs are put in charge of officiating and the NHLOA successfully negotiates for referee freedom (the reason they review some of their own calls on ipads is because the OA didn't want refs to lose their say to the war room).

This is exactly what’s going on and it’s been going on for a long time. This is Gary Bettman’s NHL and he’s more concerned about what’s going on off the ice than what’s going on on the ice. Artificial parity is more important than the on ice product. It’s worked great from a business perspective but the fans suffer for it.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

90% of those listed have ties to the local media or work for the local guys

9/11 I would classify has "home media" either due to actually working locally or doing something daily on local shows

I think it would be more about 70% home media. I think the fact it is not 100% is a step forward that this isn't homer glasses being put on here.

 

[rboomercat90]

More intelligent posts in this thread than any other thread I’ve seen on this board.

 

[Oilhawks]

Great post. Kerry Fraser opined on the hit today on twitter and his response spoke volumes:



The idea that the refs are responsible for ensuring the flow of the game needs to go. I have no idea where that comes from.

Going out on a limb wearing a tinfoil hat (and I'm not checking into it either), but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a Bettman mandate. Allows for "game management" and enough vaguarity to give entirely subjective interpretations of the rules. A prime example is Talbot's pad being held by Kesler in the Anaheim series. How that wasn't goalie interference and yet a player incidentally bumping the goalie is (usually), just shows how inconsistent the interpretations of the rules are. For the record, I think bumping the goalie should be called as well, of course.

 

[rboomercat90]

Going out on a limb wearing a tinfoil hat (and I'm not checking into it either), but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a Bettman mandate. Allows for "game management" and enough vaguarity to give entirely subjective interpretations of the rules. A prime example is Talbot's pad being held by Kesler in the Anaheim series. How that wasn't goalie interference and yet a player incidentally bumping the goalie is (usually), just shows how inconsistent the interpretations of the rules are. For the record, I think bumping the goalie should be called as well, of course.

I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.

I guess it would be too confusing for the home team and of course "what do you say to Corey".

"you see where he's scrambling on his hand and knees on the ice and opening up the goalie with his bare hands.....that's not allowed"

 

[Oilhawks]

I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.

That's exactly true, they didn't even "see" the pad hold. I'm not sure if that's better or worse, haha. It's too bad that nothing will seemingly be done about the terrible officiating though. Not sure what can be done to trigger a sincere review by the league. Revenue? Don't know how they could correlate that.

 

[Little Fury]

The key phrase is "keep game fair". The problem is it seems this means allowing lesser players a fair chance vs McDavid by holding, hooking, slashing etc.

Of course the fact letting some players cheat makes the game patently unfair seems to escape them. Ref logic is weird, man.

 

[oobga]

I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.

Same with the Perry one before. I don't think anyone noticed that Perry's butt knocked down Talbots glove hand inside the crease, and that is exactly where the puck ended up going in. They only saw some contact outside and thought, meh, no biggie, not worth making Perry mad.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

They can't even be bothered to watch the games. Elitest pricks.

They have lifetime jobs with this owner and they know it. Why work?

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

What pisses me off is that Lucic (who had a great game) sours Leon's goal by being a poor sport and going after Montour, causing Leon to receive some shots from Getzlaf and also gifting them a powerplay (which was another bullcrap call from the refs).
And then this sh*t happens to the not only the best player on the team, but in the world, and the only person going after Lindholm was rookie Gambardella. Lindholm shouldn't even be breathing right now, they should've pummeled the shit out of him, even Doughty last game. We have one of the toughest line-ups in the entire NHL, the non response to that is just infuriating

It's shocking to the rest of the hockey world that the ref didn't call that, but cmon, us Oiler fans are used to this bullshit. Every single game there could be a multitude of penalties called for McDavid, but go ignored and un-noticed. And we're helpless to change it, we bitch, complain, send videos/letters to the NHL safety board....nothing. Same shit the very next game. It's the most frustrating thing to watch

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

That hit was stupid, but not intentional from the play, so maybe that's why the ref didn't call it. I was watching it on the Ducks feed and the announcers actually thought that was a "good" hit, one of them was like "Lindholm lays out McDavid!" I'm like "Really... jabbing someone in the back with a stick so that they go head first into the boards is 'laying someone out' now?"

Intent or not, it was a dangerous hit, should've got at least a 5 minute major and a game, if no suspension.
Just like the Law, if you break it, there is consequences, intent is only a factor when deciding the severity of punishment for the crime

 

[barry halls]

That tweet is wild. So disheartening to basically see it confirmed that game management isn't a fan delusion, it's a very real thing. Refs should have sweet f all to do with the entertainment/'flow' of a hockey game. I wonder how long this attitude has existed among NHL refs? It's embarrassing and I suddenly like the league a little less now.

 

[rboomercat90]

I guess it would be too confusing for the home team and of course "what do you say to Corey".

"you see where he's scrambling on his hand and knees on the ice and opening up the goalie with his bare hands.....that's not allowed"

The “what would I say to Corey?” quote was from the previous game when Perry bumped Talbot’s glove. It still infuriates me when I think back to how the Oilers got shafted in that series.

 

[Rafters]

Watch the narrative turn to how the Oilers need to protect McDavid ... that can’t happen anymore ... how many games will someone get for attacking Lindholn... we already seen Lucic get 2 games for going after someone in FLA and pinning him down .... we know if some went crazy the oilers would of had a 5 minute PK and could of lost a game they really needed ... it’s not like the old days ... league needs to protect its players ... this team got laughed at when they tried that shit in the cgy and lost

 

[rboomercat90]

That tweet is wild. So disheartening to basically see it confirmed that game management isn't a fan delusion, it's a very real thing. Refs should have sweet f all to do with the entertainment/'flow' of a hockey game. I wonder how long this attitude has existed among NHL refs? It's embarrassing and I suddenly like the league a little less now.

It’s a league initiative. It’s been going on for a long time. It’s more noticeable now because almost all of the older, competent referees have been cycled out of the league and their replacements have been developed in this system.

As for when it started, I’d say probably when the league went to the two referee system and basically needed to double their referee pool in the process. I’d also go as far to say that they ramped it up after they took the names off the officials jerseys. They wanted those guys to be as anonymous as possible. I used to know who every referee in the league was at one point and most of the linesmen. Now I don’t know who any of them are unless they screw up so badly that I look up their number.

 

[North]

Kypreos carrying the league's water on Tim and Sid is the least surprising thing I've seen all day.

 

[PeakMcOil]

I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.

I might be misremembering but I am pretty sure Friedman pointed it out almost immediately and then everyone else kind of reluctantly agreed that it was interference.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Where the hell is the Dept of PLAYER SAFETY in this, still on Christmas holidays? If Connor doesn't have the lightning quick reflexes he has to partially brace himself the way he did, who knows what kind of injury that could have been. Concussion, neck/spine, shoulder, all the above?

I'm not screaming for a suspension, but players have been fined for much, much less.

I'd like to know why the Oilers are treated like 18th century peasants in this league.

 

[Senor Catface]

Kypreos carrying the league's water on Tim and Sid is the least surprising thing I've seen all day.

What did that mook say?

 

[Ritchie Valens]

What did that mook say?

I didn't see it, but knowing him and Sid...it was the "It's all Connor's fault" show. "Dont turn your back the last second" "Lindholm commited to the hit when McDavid turned, not his fault".

If it was Marner, marble mouth or Nostrils, they'd have been screaming for the death penalty.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Kypreos carrying the league's water on Tim and Sid is the least surprising thing I've seen all day.

That show is so annoying