Jedi

Mick McGeough, who I think MANY will agree was arguably the worst ref in the NHL EVER, was a ref for 21 years. He practically made a career on bad calls, but still kept his job. Seriously, just do a YouTube search for Mick McGeough, and you'll see what I mean. The NHL doesn't publicly reprimand their referees (and in fact, usually bend over backwards to back them up), but they obviously have rather lax standards for their job performance. Heck, my local weatherman gets the weather wrong like 60% of the time, and he gets to keep his job. Why should an NHL ref be any different, I guess? *shrug*

When it comes to conspiracies, I rarely believe in that stuff. IMO, the biggest case for a conspiracy from last year was the scheduling for games one and two of the finals, back to back with only 2 days off in between. But that was more a case of the NHL being handcuffed by their TV contract with NBC than "ZOMG, Gary Buttman wants teh Penz to win!!!11". NBC had exclusive rights to games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and they would only play the games on a weekend. So either the NHL scheduled them back to back on short notice, or they scheduled them back to back with a full week and a half of inactivity before game 1. No conspiracy there. The call tonight and the Watson call vs the Ducks is (IMO) a case of both incompetence, and the rule book SORELY needing an overhaul regarding "intent to blow the whistle". Both tonight's goal, and the Watson no-goal call were a case of the ref being out of position, and having the intent to blow the whistle, even though it was blown after the puck crossed the line. Since the rule states (or at least, is enforced as) the play is officially dead when the ref intends to blow the whistle, that's why we got jobbed on both calls. But since the refs intent to blow the whistle can't be overturned by Toronto, then we get the fuzzy end of the lollipop on those goals, and in the end, there's nothing we can do. Incompetence for being in a bad position. Incompetence for intending to blow the whistle too soon. Incompetence on the NHL's part to make that kind of call unreviewable. Conspiracy? Hardly.

Keep the game discussion on track folks.

Ugh...

Aaaaaand now we're on the PK.

The NHL will come out and defend their refs like they always do. They'll say "The intent to blow the whistle was there, even if the whistle hadn't quite been blown by that point". They always pull that line, regardless of the team. But it seems to me that the sheer number of calls like this that we've seen SURELY would mean that it's happening to other teams too. If it's happening to other teams too, then one has to wonder why the hell the NHL doesn't do more to modify this rule to make it overturnable. In an age where we can have a replay less than 5 seconds after a play occurs, there is ZERO reason that a call like that should be blown the way it was. *steps off soapbox*

BULLs***.

That's a goal, no question. Toronto needs to overrule this, BADLY.

So, even though he wasn't involved, he still plead guilty, agreed to spend an entire year on probation, and wrote an apology letter to the cab driver? That's fuzzy math.

Who Wants To Live Forever - Queen

That goal was pretty sick too. But yeah, can't help but chuckle on something like that.

First ballot HOF'er for sure. Thanks for the years in Detroit, Shanny. A class act all the way, and always one of my favorite players.

The Mountains Win Again - Blues Traveler

Invisible Touch - Genesis

Here's May's shift chart from NHL.com. He did have one shift in the third, for a whopping 8 seconds... #-----P---------START------------STOP-----------TOI 1-----1-----2:48 / 17:12-----3:21 / 16:39-----00:33 2-----1-----5:55 / 14:05-----7:11 / 12:49-----01:16 3-----1-----9:40 / 10:20-----10:17 / 9:43-----00:37 4-----1-----17:19 / 2:41-----18:17 / 1:43-----00:58 5-----2-----2:39 / 17:21-----3:18 / 16:42-----00:39 6-----2-----15:44 / 4:16-----16:43 / 3:17-----00:59 7-----2-----18:09 / 1:51-----18:40 / 1:20-----00:31 8-----3-----6:26 / 13:34-----6:34 / 13:26-----00:08 Per-----SHF-----AVG--------TOI 1--------4-------00:51-----03:24 2--------3-------00:43-----02:09 3--------1-------00:08-----00:08 TOT-----8-------00:42-----05:41 Source = NHL.com's Time on Ice report.

Why Don't We Get Drunk - Jimmy Buffett

Too bad the Arby's in Dallas won't honor this promotion. *grumble grumble*

Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall

Here is the News - Electric Light Orchestra

I Think We're Alone Now - Tommy James & the Shondells, Tiffany, et al.

Trip Like I Do - The Crystal Method

Alright, I'll ask the question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind. Anyone got a video of said elbow?

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life - Monty Python's Spamalot!

Moon Burns Bright - Brave Saint Saturn