Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle
Not sure I'll add anything that hasn't been said, and I'll keep my comments focused on the rules in place around goal reviews (vs. league as a whole).
This isn't about the victims card here. What happened last night, was, as the rules are written today, the right outcome. Unlike the Coleman goal in Game 5 two years ago, it's not about subjective did the refs apply the right interpretation (which is an issue), this one was called correctly. The issue is the rule and how much has been made reviewable by the league. In their pursuit of accuracy, they've damage the entertainment and fun of the product, and they need to scale it back.
As with a lot of these things, I'm hoping it's a pendulum swing that will come back. But they've pursued solving the wrong problem. Not sure if I'm remembering right, but ever since a few years back, when I think it was Colorado, scored a key playoff goal on a play that was 20 feet offside (a true mess up) the league has slowly opened the flood gates on reviews because they are trying to solve the wrong problem. 100% accuracy, is not needed, nor is what is good for the game.
They need to stop trying to protect against the sub 1% incidents that are really bad, like that offside miss in the playoffs. As a fan base that has been robbed of a cup due to miss called, I get why they might think it's needed, but it's the wrong choice. A really epic miss like that with true meaningful impacts happens like what, once, twice every 10 years....... I think they need to realize that's ok. And driving out the excitement in every game, because we have multiple 10min delays in play (to get it right) or we are calling back goals (like last night) where the missed call really wasn't that impactful is not good for the sport.
Outside of the stoppage of play, which is so bad for flow and fan appreciation, the number of times in a season, where my exhilaration in celebration on a Flames goal is muted by 50% because me and my buddy are trying to be excited but we noted a "close play at the blue line 5 mins before" and we are worried it's going to be called back is happening way to often. The explosion of emotion when your team pops a goal is the main reason I love the games, it's addicting. That's being muted substantially by the review culture, and it seriously impacts enjoyment. And now, last night is an example of what's happening more often too, a goal coming back when you aren't even aware that it was even at risk. Creates a culture for the fans when after the biggest moments of your game, people aren't enjoying it, they are looking around worrying that something is going to get reviewed. The fans are literally sitting in the stands going drop the puck drop the puck so they can be sure the goal counted. That's not what is good for the game.
The league needs to realize, this isn't a fan or player safety issue, where you do manage to the 1% or worst case scenarios. This is just about the game, you accept a margin of error and you do what's right for fan enjoyment.
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