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"All Geeked-Up for the Deadline..."
Newtown Square, PA • United States • 45 Years Old • Male
Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory as the refs blew their second Alexi Kovalev related call.

The goal he swatted in was clearly above the crossbar, as his stick hit the crossbar on the follow through. I cannot imagine how the refs missed that one? It was a hell of a play, but illegal nonetheless.

The second, and much worse call, was on Mike Richards for kneeing. Anyone who knows anything about Richards knows that he is an extremely intelligent player and would not put himself in such a glaring error during a key moment. Moreover, he used his shoulder. The replay clearly shows that. Debate it all you want, he used his shoulder from every angle. It was a bad call, influenced by the location of the game.

Did the Habs score on the ensuing PP? Yes. But, it should not have come to that.

The refs made themselves the story instead of letting the players decide it on the ice. I just hope that some of those calls go the Flyers way during this series...oh wait, we are the evil empire and all that is wrong about the game.

Disgusted.

SYF
April 24, 2008 11:09 PM ET | Delete
When Kovy made contact with the puck his stick was not above the crossbar, they even reviewed it. good call. The call on Richards was close, it did look bad, and could have gone the either way. Just another typical flyers whining about something. the most negative fans in sports. i am kind of sick of it. Both teams played great and montreal ended up with getting the bounces when it counted. great game.
April 24, 2008 11:12 PM ET | Delete
I certainly have been in your shoes ... but the Flyers came out in OT with the same chance to win the game as the Canadiesn did. Don't give up hope ... the Flyers proved tonight that the Canadiens better show up for 60 minutes each game.
April 25, 2008 12:16 AM ET | Delete
Just as they (refs) influenced the Washington game 7 by allowing Kapanen's goal. karma is a b!tch.
April 25, 2008 1:09 AM ET | Delete
Well, I think you might have on the Orange Coloured glasses here. I saw the replay a number of times and yes Mike Richards deserved the kneeing penalty. Kneeing or tripping, whatever you want to call it, it's a penalty.Now about that high stick. I watched the game in high def and watched about 6 or 7 different replays. I too am shocked that Toronto after reviewing the replays allowed that goal to stand. It's obvious that the first contact with the puck was above the cross bar. It's a high stick and should have been called back in my opinion.
April 25, 2008 1:51 AM ET | Delete
rdfred beat me to it... karma is a bitch. You guys have no business being in this series... with that being said I am still cheering for you guys tho, as I hate the Habs! I just would have rather seen the Caps in the 2nd round
April 25, 2008 6:08 AM ET | Delete
SYF We have to kill that bad penalty end of story. If we kill that or at least win a face off we come out with game 1. I think last nights game was one of the Best so far from both a team and ref level. Really looking forward to game 2.
April 25, 2008 6:36 AM ET | Delete
Just my opinion guys...I think the refs became part of the story on those two goals. As to the Flyers not having the right to be in the series, they were 32 seconds from an upset in game one, right?
April 25, 2008 7:09 AM ET | Delete
Hey ACC, were you old enough to be around when the Pens sucked for so many years? Easy to be a big talker now that they are good...as to the fans in Philadelphia, have you ever spent any time here? Do you have a clue what you are talking about or are you just parroting the national media? Grow up.
April 25, 2008 8:07 AM ET | Delete
i agree with you syf. its a tough loss. i have friends that are habs fans that said both calls were completely wrong, and that the habs should have lost 3-1. as for the last round game that they mentioned with "karma being a bitch"? yeah, ok lets say we were even coming out of that - we would have swept the series had they blown the whistle on the torensen injury, instead it went 7 where a call went our way.
April 25, 2008 8:11 AM ET | Delete
Although the first goal was clearly hit with a high stick (I mean how can your stick come down on the top of the crossbar after hitting the puck off the blade?), I do believe the puck would've gone in anyhow, so although it could've been disallowed, I don't have as much of a problem with that as I do the brutal penalty call on Richards. The on replay clearly shows that the ref is turning while the hit occurred, and therefore didn't see it except out of the corner of his eye. Other replays clearly show the hit was with the shoulder and that his knee never even made contact with Kovalev. It as purely a case of reffing the result, not the actual play. It's sad that playoff games are decided by what he thought probably occurred, and not what actually did.
April 25, 2008 8:27 AM ET | Delete
Most Pittsburgh fans will always see other fans as whining. If you hit the two stars even legally, ANYTEAM will be called. Remember your series starts tonight and I can't to see Avery in his face. I will check in tomorrow too see the real whiners.No matter how factual there complaint is. Fact, his stick with follow through, hit the cross bar. If they follow the rule book it was PLAYED (no matter where it was hit on the stick) with a high stick. They review it, move on. Anytime there is a review, it will not benefit the Flyers. History has shown this. Second, the penalty by Richards was an awful call. If you watch the replay the ref who called it didn't even see the play till Kovalev was spinning on the ice the shoulder of Richards. They need to kill the penalty, move on.Karma is a b!tch!!! I love trolls who say stupid sh!t. Move on!!!
April 25, 2008 8:44 AM ET | Delete
lyricsninja I like Wash and Philly ... But Washington (especially game 7) Dominated the Flyers hugely. AO himeself dominated the whole flyers team. Washington should be in the playoffs still.. Philly should be out but in the end I still hope Philly ends Montreals dreams ... The whole city will probably burn down if Montreal wins the cup... anyone else wonder why they cheer for their CITY'S Team (Montreal) Yet try to burn it down after a win??? makes no sense
April 25, 2008 8:47 AM ET | Delete
Penalty or not, goal or not, they didn't kill off the penalty or get the puck out of the zone in ot. Plain and simple the players need to deal with it. In the end it doesn't matter how the refing was. If it was bad for us last night, it will be bad for them tomorrow. It all comes out in the wash. Look at the positives, we actually hung with them the whole game and took it to ot in our third game in four days. We were tired and didn't get blown out. I was expecting us to lose this game just because of fatigue. We can hopefully come back to Philly with a split.
April 25, 2008 8:54 AM ET | Delete
ducey - montreal is an odd hockey town, i admit. and washington did dominate for much of the game in an overall sense, but i would counter with biron dominated washington in that game. without him in net, we were sent home crying about the 10 - 2 loss.
April 25, 2008 9:04 AM ET | Delete
I think that we played a great game and yeah it sucks that we lost but the team isn't concerned because they know that if the refs hadn't handed a few timely gifts to the Habs they would have won. They'll go back and work on the PK and be back on the ice to victimize the Habs again tomorrow nigth.Also...i'm sick of hearing how the flyers don't "deserve" to be in the playoffs still...if washington deserved to be in they would have controled that rebound and lupul wouldn't have scored. It was game 7 it could have gone either way. They could have scored in the third or the beginning of OT and they didn't. They had their chances and Brion stopped them. Game 7 win..well deserved. It's over and done and the Caps should thank their lucky stars that carolina handed them the division title. We'll see how this plays out tomorrow...
April 25, 2008 9:58 AM ET | Delete
The high stick play was a goal because the evidence wasn't nearly as conclusive as it needed to be to overturn the call.The Richards play was unforunate and probably shouldn't have been called, but I think you're off-base when you say 'he not put himself in such a glaring error'. Kovalev made a move and caught Richards with his legs still, and Richards was forced to throw his upper body towards #27. If Richards has his legs moving the play never happens. Problem was that their legs lined up and in real time, it looked like a knee.
April 25, 2008 10:39 AM ET | Delete
STF. Am old enough to remember the loosing years in the 70's and 80's no? Old enough to remember the rough years with-in the past 15 years yes. I followed them through and through. It was rough at times but i have enjoys every second of the ride. And screw the national media how has this have anything to do with them. I live in state college which has an equal number of pittsburgh fans and philly fans, and god damn if i have met more than a handful of flyers fans that didn't have anything negative to say. On the boards, hockeybuzz, TSN, and ESPN, it is mostly negative whining or unnecessary trash talking. Your fans need to cheer up.
April 25, 2008 10:46 AM ET | Delete
Cant we stop with the damn personal attacks and talk about the key plays instead. Kovalev hit the puck with his stick and then the stick came down to hit the crossbar. It had to be negated. On the Richards penalty, it depends on the point of view (angle on ice - not team) from the view behind Richards (which is where the ref was) it looked like a knee. I agree we have to dig down and kill that penalty. One last time - PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE bring back WOOD STICKS!!!
April 25, 2008 11:50 AM ET | Delete
Phigment: "Cant we stop with the damn personal attacks and talk about the key plays instead"... Of course not, because Philly fans are all scumbags... from what I read, anyway.
April 25, 2008 12:13 PM ET | Delete
Nice one 23
April 25, 2008 12:23 PM ET | Delete
This is awesome. Philly fans run anyone else for commenting on bad officiating that goes Philly's way, and look what happens when it's the other way around. It all goes back to my opinion that the league needs to address the sub-standard officiating so we can all enjoy good, clean, fast, physical hockey and not "whine" about what calls went who's way.
April 25, 2008 12:25 PM ET | Delete
phigment i agree. i would LOVE to see the camera angle they used to judge if it was a goal or not. logic tells you if a puck comes down a lot faster, it was hit with a stick, and that if the stick hits on top of a crossbar - then its above the net at the time of the hit. clearly, logic doesnt work in toronto. if anything this should be a clear as day example that somehow went all wrong.
April 25, 2008 12:27 PM ET | Delete
rwrusso it also has to do with the warroom. i really would like to see what angle they saw it from for that to say either it was a goal or was inconclusive. but the league needs to do something about the officiating. perhaps allow the second official to overrule the first. if that happens they call upstairs for an official ruling?
April 25, 2008 12:30 PM ET | Delete
if you have any question as to why it was called a goal, just look at who was involved in the decision..."About 350 miles away, in a league office in Toronto, the NHL's cabal of goal-replay gods - usually among them, vice presidents Mike Murphy, Jim Gregory and Colin Campbell - decreed that Alex Kovalev's goal was good."Good ole' CC, the czar or fair play and equal judgement's strikes again
April 25, 2008 5:23 PM ET | Delete
Just another in a long line of crucial home ice calls going the Habs way. It's a long and tired story. Flyers still win, I was up in the air on 5 or 6 games, guess I have to go with 6 now. Philly has a deeper, tougher team. Forget this one Flyers and take care of business.
April 25, 2008 6:30 PM ET | Delete
c'mon now i agree the goal was touch and go it was close but that was a penalty in any league.....your just lucky it wasn't 5 and at least a game.....
April 25, 2008 6:40 PM ET | Delete
It was a clear knee
April 25, 2008 7:21 PM ET | Delete
gforce - I second your comments. I watch a lot of puck, and the Habs definitely get preferntial treatment from the officials. Not just when the play Philly.
April 25, 2008 10:37 PM ET | Delete
I'm sure that the ref making that call had the time to be thinking about how Richards is an extremely intelligent player that wouldn't commit 'such a glaring error at a key moment'. Please. I know, I know, the Flyers are comprised largely of talented, careful, considerate (read - infallible) hockey players, but the refs can't always take this into account, they've got enough shit on their plates They have to make quick decisions based on what they see happen. You talk about 'angles' like the refs have that option. Replay a questionable call and complain about it 'objectively' until you're blue (or orange, in this case) in the face and it will never change the fact that refs are charged with covering 12 people over a whole lot of territory in a very fast paced game and sometimes things get lost in translation. Before someone says "BUt nywinger they replayt the hihgh sticking cal in torronto and still gave it 2 the habs wtF!?!11!!1one!?11backslash!!!21!", I'm not talking about that. Stop flaming me. Bad calls are going to occur and teams all over the NHL have to deal with it. The majority will kill off a bad penalty. Some will not. I don't remember the last time I heard a Philly (Philly used as an example since that's what the thread is dealing with, fill in your favorite scapegoat and move along) fan say "Well [our opponent] got a really bad call and Philly scored, [our opponent] should have killed that off, so don't complain about the call!!!11one!". Oh wait, that's because a Philly fan's never said that. You can 'address' the argument and say that 'It shouldn't have come to that', but it did. You're just pissed cause it's your team. Take off those orange colored glasses. The same thing happened in the 1st round and all through the regular season. The horse is beaten, broken, and far past rotting at this point.
April 26, 2008 2:37 PM ET | Delete
did you cry about the refereeing this much when they allowed the flyers goal against washington after huet was knocked out of his crease in game 7?
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