NHL Playoffs: The Finals: Calgary Flames versus Tampa Bay Lightning

[Fake Boris]

I'm in Spain right now, where people don't even know what hockey is, but let's to Asher.

Clearly, the Flames are a talentless bunch of poo-lickers.

[Arrian]

Flames coach Darryl Sutter, who came under fire from the league earlier in the week after he suggested that the New York office doesn't want the Flames to win, refused to say that his team had received a raw deal.

"I looked it and that's got to be a conclusive play," he said. "I looked at it from two different angles. And unless you have a different one, you can't say it's a goal.

"I mean, it's so close. You can't argue that point. I'm sure they did look at it.

[JohnT]

Let me be the first to say it:

USA! USA! USA!

[Drake Tungsten]

Let me be the first to say it:

USA! USA! USA!

I think my "Take that you ****ing Canucks!!!" expressed the same sentiment several hours ago...

[Asher]

Originally posted by Arrian

That was blatant posititioning on Sutter's behalf to get the player's mind off of it and on to the next game. He knew the NHL wouldn't reverse it anyway.

It's the same stuff he pulled with the whole "everyone is against us" tactic, taken from Gretsky's playbook from the Olympics.

There's a lot more going on here than meets the untrained American eye.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
So you don't have any definitive proof, then? Guess I'll have to side with the officials on this one...

I have proof behind a reasonable doubt, and I don't see why it's not in. The "officials" didn't even know it was close, so their opinion is kinda moot. The NHL brass after were trying to save face, because it would be a bad public image for them to award the Stanley Cup after the fact because their refs screwed up.

In 3 dimensions you have to be careful, a puck could be above the ice and not in the net and still be behind the red line you drew...
Not saying its not a goal, just saying to be careful niterepreting anything but a perfect photo from the side\above of the goal.

But the puck wasn't nearly that high off the ice, it would have to be substantially above the ice to provide that illusion in the last pic. The first pic shows it isn't as high as some people thought...

[Arrian]

Or, alternatively, maybe he had a moment of objectivity?

The officials made a call. Perhaps it was the wrong one, but in order to have a convincing case, you need a clear shot of the puck across the line. Produce that, and you may have a case for a blown call.

-Arrian

[Asher]

Originally posted by Arrian
Or, alternatively, maybe he had a moment of objectivity?

The officials made a call. Perhaps it was the wrong one, but in order to have a convincing case, you need a clear shot of the puck across the line. Produce that, and you may have a case for a blown call.

-Arrian

All of the evidence showing it has a high probability it's across the line is there, the reason we don't have any more evidence is "the officials" are inept.

You have to go with probability. It screws one team if you say it's a goal, it screws the other if you say it's not a goal. The highest probability is it was a goal, as these pictures show.

The only reason we don't know for sure is because the NHL officials are inept.

[cinch]

The puck is CLEARLY in the air as it heads toward the net... Khabibulin's pad comes out in a split-second, and knocks the puck away before it crosses. A 3-D optical illusion is created by the puck's height off the ice, creating the image of a goal from one, and only one, angle.

Problem solved.

[Arrian]

Ok, Asher, whatever. It didn't go your way, so the league is at fault. Waaaa.

Refs are human beings, and close calls like these happen in all sports. Sometimes it turns out the ref/ump was right (surprisingly often, actually), and sometimes they blow it. For *most* people, the key to determining a blown call is a clear picture of the play which shows it wasn't the way the ref called it. In baseball, this would be the slow motion replay showing the runner avoided a tag by several feet (thinking of Knoblauch's "phantom tag" in the '99 ALCS here). In hockey, this would be a video clip or still shot of the puck crossing the line. A clear shot, with the proper angle.

It doesn't exist, apparently, or it would have been all over the place. Given that, *most* people will figure the ref made a tough call on a close play, and leave it at that.

-Arrian

[Asher]

The puck is CLEARLY in the air as it heads toward the net... Khabibulin's pad comes out in a split-second, and knocks the puck away before it crosses. A 3-D optical illusion is created by the puck's height off the ice, creating the image of a goal from one, and only one, angle.

Problem solved.

That would make sense if Khabibulin kicked or even moved his leg out, wouldn't it? Unfortunately that is not the case, he thought the puck was infront of him.

The puck was not only shot at the net, it was on its side, so if it did touch the ice, it would roll in fairly fast anyway. There's no way a goalie could move a leg with that much weight on it, from the position he's in, to be faster than that puck.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Arrian
Ok, Asher, whatever. It didn't go your way, so the league is at fault. Waaaa.

Refs are human beings, and close calls like these happen in all sports.

Did you even watch the game? It's not the refs that are at fault, they couldn't see it. The league is at fault because they don't have a good way of detecting goals short of an overhead camera, which is sometimes obscured (as it is in this case).

We wouldn't be arguing right now if the league was not inept, because we'd know for sure one way or the other.

So I'll repeat: It's not the ref's fault, and I don't think you even saw the play if that's your argument.

[Arrian]

Ah, I misread your beef with the league. I have it now: you feel they were at fault for not having a camera or other technology in position to tell for sure what happened.

There I agree with you.

-Arrian

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Let me be the first to say it:

USA! USA! USA!

I think my "Take that you ****ing Canucks!!!" expressed the same sentiment several hours ago...

Okay, sure, be proud that your American dollars paid for the roster of 15 Canadians, 3 Russians, 3 Czechs, 1 Swede and 3 Americans. Not to mention the MVP being Canadian.

[Ben Kenobi]

Tampa outplayed Calgary this game, but it should have never happened. The NHL needs to invest in transponders and RFIDs or something. It's ****ing cheap, and totally fair.

Sour grapes.

They had plenty of chances to win game six, even with that one play.

Sad that Calgary can't bring home the bacon, but congrats to Tampa for showing that the East is superior to the West.