Quote:
Originally Posted by Lubicon
But none of that proves they were not aware of what the rule was, all it shows is that they did not see or feel there was a throwing motion initially and thus waved off the goal.
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BOTH refs have an unobstructed view of the play, and without review, as soon as the play occurs, the play-by-play guy says "Well that's a goal." the instant it happens. There's no way you could mis-construe what the play was, that Ovechkin somehow got hooked up in the stick. And there's no "intent" in the rule -
"The goalkeeper may attempt to stop the shot in any manner
except by throwing his stick or any object, or by deliberately dislodging
the goal, in which case a goal shall be awarded."
This is black and white. So the only argument could be that they simply didn't see it. Both of them. At the same time. What everyone else saw, and which, let's face it, was perfectly obvious. For real, if neither ref saw that this was a thrown stick, then neither of them should be working in the NHL. Or maybe any league. And I'm not a ref-hater - I am
astonished at how often they get touchy calls just right at speed in the heat of the moment - it's amazing. Even more reason why there's no excuse for this one. It's impossible they didn't see it, from 2 different, unobstructed angles.