[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

Just curious-

Was watching a buddies game tonight where the following happened-

The puck was in the offensive zone but was turned over and taken the other way up the ice. As this was happening, the goalie on the puck carrying team went down after what appeared to be a slash by the opponent who was also trailing the play.

This is what I couldn't figure out.

The play continued for a few seconds and then was whistled down when the refs noticed the goalie on the ice. It was obvious the opponent did something (none of us in the stands saw what had happened because it was so far behind the play) but it was mass confusion for a few minutes as to what was going on because literally no one saw what happened, not even the refs (I found this out when talking to my buddy after the game, the time keepers, players, refs..no one had any idea what happened but it was obvious something had happened).

What initially happened was that one ref grabbed the guy who was trailing the play and put him in the box for what I guess was initially a minor penalty. After the captains and the second ref talked, the guy was then kicked out of the game because of league rules that state any penalty that results in an injury is an automatic game misconduct and suspension.

Myself being a sucker for hockey rules and figuring out "what if" hockey scenarios, this one left me a little stumped. Apparently, the refs openly admitted to both sides that they didn't see the initial incident but called a penalty because it was obvious something had happened, then when the goalie stayed down the misconduct was assessed.

So my question is- Can/should a penalty be called if no one sees what happened? is the aftermath enough to make a penalty call on? I'm guessing probably yes but I figured someone on CP would know better then me. But then I guess the other side is, what's stopping someone from staying down every time there is an incidental roughing or crosschecking in order to gain the match penalty and the extra 3 minutes of PP time for their team. Forgot to add incase it makes a difference, the goalie stayed in and finished the game.

Like I said- I'm stumped.

You'd be amazed at some of the calls in rec hockey. Some that just leave you shaking your head.