The National Hockey League should be ashamed of it’s Officials
The referees in the Stanley Cup Finals may have taken the Stanley Cup right out of the hands of the New York Rangers. The officiating has been inconsistent during the entire Stanley Cup playoffs. The third Los Angeles Kings goals scored when Dwight King fell into Henrik Lundqvist. Not allowing him to move or react to the shot may have cost the New York Rangers the series. Only five times in forty-eight Stanley Cup series has a team won the cup after trailing two games to none in the first two games. The call for goaltender interference at 7:07 of the second period on Benoit Pouliot was made while the puck was nowhere near the crease. Yet a player on the Los Angeles Kings was able to impede our goaltender from reacting to a shot, on a goal scored in a finals game. The National hockey league should have been ashamed of the calls missed and officiating in general. The New York Rangers lost game two because of bad officiating. Dustin Brown may have scored the game winner in overtime but the goal Dwight King scored was given to him by the referees missing an interference call. The missed call took the game from the New York Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist said on MSG, “I’m extremely disappointing on the call or non call. They have to be consistent with that rule. In the second they called the penalty and the puck wasn’t even there. They score a goal and I can’t even move. It’s extremely frustrating for them to get life-like that. After that it’s a different game.
The New York Rangers had been undefeated in the playoffs when leading after two periods. Until this game two of the Stanley Cup Finals of course. That particular play changed the complexion of the game and gave the Los Angeles Kings life and a one goal game. There is no accountability for bad or biassed officiating in the National Hockey League. There is no consistency in the penalties called and not called in the league. There is too much grey area in the way goalie interference is called or not called. Why is that play not reviewable in a game as important as this one? Had the referee called it “no goal” on the count of interference, would the league have looked at it or would it still be a unreviewable play? Now the Rangers have to go back home dejected after out-playing the Los Angeles Kings in both games one and two. The New York Rangers have had the lead in ever second of this series thus far but lost both games. On the bright side the New York Rangers will be coming home where they’ve played great hockey all season long, the playoffs too.
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They’ll have to win both games in New York or this series may just slip away from them. The top line of Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, and Rick Nash did everything in this game except score. They were physical, they skated hard and had scoring chances all game long. Rick Nash can be more effective if he would just go to the net more often. Other than not scoring goals he’s been one of the best New York Ranger players shift after shift through most of these playoffs. The puck hasn’t gone in but he’s got a big goal in him.
Benoit Pouliot, Derick Brassard, and Mats Zuccarello have been wonderful all season long and the most consistent. If the top six could manage to play as consistent as they have, the New York Rangers would win four straight and take the Stanley Cup in-game six at home. The goaltender interference penalty called on Benoit Pouliot in the second period is a perfect example of the inconsistency in the way hockey games are governed. He’s doing his job and playing in the tough areas trying to ruffle Jonathan Quicks‘ feathers. The bottom line of Brian Boyle, Dominic Moore, and Derek Dorsett also played all night in the tough areas of the ice. They were their teams best possession line all game last night in-game two. They deserve to be recognized for the way they played in the offensive zone. The New York Rangers are gonna need more of the same from these bottom six players who have been unsung heroes for their team all season long by creating an element of depth to the teams possession game and in turn their offense.
The National Hockey League is forth among all four major pro sports!
The only way the National Hockey League can repair its playoffs and become competitive among the other three major sports. Is by reviewing all goals in the playoffs by the review board in Toronto. The National Football League hasn’t been around half as long as the National Hockey League has but football blows hockey out of the water. Why is that exactly?
Home team won Games 1 & 2 of #StanleyCupFinal but lost the series twice in last 5 years: Detroit in 2009, Vancouver in 2011.
— Kenny Albert (@KennyAlbert) June 8, 2014
It’s because of the inconsistencies in its game like the one we saw in-game two of the league championship. The National Hockey League advertises the Stanley Cup as the hardest trophy to win in pro sports and they might be right. However, it seems clear to us here at Bluelinetation.com the league wants to make these finals as easy as they can for the Los Angeles Kings. The New York Rangers have out-skated the Kings for two games now and have owned the puck for long stretches of both games. Yet find themselves down two game to none in a best of seven series.
Don’t forget to check out the possession statistics at 2014-06-07: Rangers 4 at Kings 5 (2OT) Game Advanced Stats | Extra Skater.