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New York, NY • United States • 2013 Years Old • Male
First, let's make something very clear. I am happy for Daniel Briere and Martin Biron tonight. I loved them while they were in Buffalo, and I still love them. They're the type of guys I'm going to follow the rest of their careers, regardless of where they play. Also, kudos to the Flyers in general for coming up big when it mattered most in this pivotal game 4.

But........

Montreal got CHEATED. So, so bad. AND THAT MAKES ME FURIOUS!!!

Once again, as has happened SO MANY times this year, the Referees picked a team and gave them the game in a critical situation. I'm sorry, but YOU NEED TO BE CONSISTENT. If you're not going to make calls, don't make them. Please don't decide a game that could potentially decide a series, especially involving two teams that have worked so hard all year long and deserve better than the referees getting involved in the game.

The final 5 minutes of this game were just disgusting to watch. Literally, they made me sick!

I counted SIX - SIX - SIX - SIX - SIX - SIX infractions on the Flyers in those final moments. A hooking, a spear, a trip, another hooking, an interference, and a slash.

Yet the only call made was on Montreal, and it led to, what do you know, the game winning goal!

Unbelievable.

Just makes me so upset.

How can you decide a game that critical? Especially after Montreal came back.

Here's hoping they can at least win game 5 to force another game in Philly.

They deserve it.
April 30, 2008 10:16 PM ET | Delete
Are you insane?That's all.
April 30, 2008 10:17 PM ET | Delete
Oh yeah - Montreal was cheated. How about the BOARDING call on RIchards to give the Habs a powerplay in the first period. The problem with the call - the guy never was checked into the boards. Take off the Canadian glasses!
April 30, 2008 10:19 PM ET | Delete
Makes up for the ridiculous imbalance of penalties in the series. Montreal is on the man advantage every time you look up. The Flyers cannot be committing that many MORE penalties than Montreal, and yet the Habs are on the PP a good portion of most periods. I am sorry to be calling sour grapes, but they got their due tonight. The call on Kapanen WAS a penalty and the Flyers scored on their advantage - tough luck Habs. They could have scored on their PPs, but could not. Flyers were more opportunistic. Nice blog, though, Millertime. Keep writing. SYF
April 30, 2008 10:21 PM ET | Delete
First, i dont have canadian glasses, im from buffalo. second, my beef is not with the first period, and you may have a point there. It's with deciding an NHL playoff game with under 5 minutes to play by giving the home team a PP after the opposition had taken over all the momentum. pathetic.
April 30, 2008 10:21 PM ET | Delete
ur kidding, right?half of the penalties that have and will be called on the flyers on this series won't be called for the montreal... why? i wish i knew..
April 30, 2008 10:24 PM ET | Delete
syf, i appreciate your comment. there's a respectful way to post a comment and an unrespectful way to do so; you chose the first rout. you're a gracious winner tonight rather than one going around gloating about the result. your team did earn the win tonight. my problem is just with the refs deciding an NHL playoff game in the final moments.
April 30, 2008 10:29 PM ET | Delete
WOW! This coming from millertime (what a joke). The hit begin laid on Sami was well after the play (puck was already deep in the habs' zone) so it was BLATANT INTERFERENCE! Not to mention the bench door was open making it extremely dangerous! If the Flyers had made a blatant penalty it would have been called as well. Don't worry about the two teams playing...just sit back, get out the magic card deck, and pop open an ice-cold millertime HAHAHA!
April 30, 2008 10:36 PM ET | Delete
goodfella, your comment and comments like it make flyers fans look like idiots. i'm an NHL hockey fan, regardless if my Buffalo Sabres are in the playoffs or not, so I will watch these games, and what I saw - as an outsider whose team is no longer in the playoffs - was a very unfair ending to this game. Maybe that was a penalty on Montreal, but where were the calls on the Flyers late in the game? Totally inconsistent. but you wouldnt have seen that because you're a FLYERS fan
April 30, 2008 10:37 PM ET | Delete
where are all the HABS fans? please come and back me up!
April 30, 2008 10:40 PM ET | Delete
i thought there was nothing wrong with the call. it was a stupid hit to make, the puck was long gone.... habs had there chance all game to bury it and tie the series but they did not. there is no way habs should have lost this game, not because of officiating, but because of lack of finish
April 30, 2008 10:43 PM ET | Delete
fair enough kent. thanks for the comment. but why was philly exempt from getting penalties in the final moments? i swear, there were multiple infractions. if you have tivo, rewind and take a look! if you dont, find someone who does!
April 30, 2008 10:46 PM ET | Delete
Habs are losing this series simply because Biron is outplaying Price/Halak which makes Gainey's trade of Huet at the deadline look even more dumb now than it did then!!!!
April 30, 2008 10:49 PM ET | Delete
Nothing personal, it's not like I know you or anything. Unfair ending??? Did the habs not have an opportunity to kill of the penalty? PLEASE! I've seen the Flyers on the other end of that countless times in the past...that's hockey and that's the way it's always going to be. The refs didn't hand the Flyers anything...give credit where credit's due! Geez.
April 30, 2008 10:49 PM ET | Delete
millertime: that call on Begin was legit and had that been a Flyer, I would be furious for the stupidity of the play. It was way late and dangerous. kapanen came extremely close to hitting his back on the corner of the door.
April 30, 2008 10:51 PM ET | Delete
Sabretooth58: Take the way Huet played against the Flyers in the Caps series and put him in the net for the Canadians this series. think its 3-1 (and were 40 second away from it being 4-0) Flyers lead? I'd venture to say no.
April 30, 2008 11:10 PM ET | Delete
dude i love your passion, but really they are letting most of everything go in this series, if they didnt it would be 4 on 4 or 3 on 3 if that was possible all game, the refs had to call that one as it was a really stupid penalty to take, were you crying last game when Hatcher got a deserved call on him??
April 30, 2008 11:19 PM ET | Delete
Decrying ref's calls in this series -- that happen AGAINST The Habs is quite funny. YOu even admitted you know nothing about blown calls in the 1st but you whine about a call in teh third. Maybe if the habs took advanteage of the 4 minutes on BS calls in the first period the game would of come out different. They didnt and it is what it is A 9-1 FLYERS lead OLE OLE OLE OLE OLE
April 30, 2008 11:32 PM ET | Delete
Shouldn't complain about this at all. Montreal still had more time on the powerplay in this game. Lots of very lame calls against the Flyers again tonight! Montreal was given game 1 with a very bad call late in the game. Tonight the Flyers were given a powerplay late in the game but on a very deserved penalty call. Nothing to complain about this time at all!
May 1, 2008 12:07 AM ET | Delete
I get the last 5 minutes thing, but at least it was a good (and obvious) call. The Habs got a gift call in Game 1 on Richards that sent the game into overtime, which Montreal won. Do your homework.
May 1, 2008 2:53 AM ET | Delete
hab fans cant back u up.. cuz im sure most of them do realize that they get the questionable calls unlike the flyers who get called for things the habs wouldn't... officiating has been horrid this series
May 1, 2008 3:12 AM ET | Delete
what do expect its the home arena! dont think the flyers werent on the bottom when the series started in mtl going against the best pp, too bad its not clickin in hte playoffs...
May 1, 2008 3:44 AM ET | Delete
Hey MillerFoot... go to tsn.ca and listen to what the panel said about the penalty. EVERYONE agree's it was the right call to make. Except of course the coach of the Canadiens...
May 1, 2008 3:47 AM ET | Delete
In the last 5 minutes of a playoff game you only call things that are serious infractions. Taking a deliberate cheapshot on a player in a vulnerable position and trying to hit him into the open door of your bench is extremely dangerous and had to be called. Montreal got away with a lot of mugging and hooking in every game so far this series. There are times on the Flyers PK that they get hooked trying to clear the puck and wind up getting striped with no call. Go watch your sabres golf or something fool...
May 1, 2008 6:14 AM ET | Delete
You might have a future at the Washington Post kid. This is good stuff keep it up.
May 1, 2008 8:41 AM ET | Delete
Miller Miller Miller...Enough said!!!
May 1, 2008 9:11 AM ET | Delete
they deserved to lose...they didn't kill the power play...just like philly didn't in game one...plus alot of people would argue that the refs decided game one. no one hands you the game...you have to actually take it. Montreal had shots on goal but very few of them were quality shots. They were outplayed. Halak looked better than Price though. The defense should have helped him more on the rebounds. I think that's the chance you take switching your goalie though.
May 1, 2008 9:18 AM ET | Delete
I choose not to comment on officiating in games especially since there seems to be a river of tears flowing from Philly since the start of the playoffs. You would have thought the Flyers were eliminated already with all of the bitching going on here. It really makes you sound like Penguins fans. Your team is up 3-1, why all the constant bitching? It gets really old. Who cares if the Flyers get 100 PIM a game, they are winning. It's pathetic and sickening.
May 1, 2008 9:21 AM ET | Delete
I don't think either team has been robbed in this series. The Flyers have been more opportunistic and have gotten better goaltending. The officiation has been atrocious for both teams, and honestly, last night was probably one of the better ref'd games of the playoffs this year. Not that it was a good job, but better than the crap sandwich the NHL has given us thus far. Good Blog, even though I disagree.
May 1, 2008 9:28 AM ET | Delete
The point Miller is making is that the game is not being called as it should. A penalty is a penalty no matter the time of the game or the regular season or playoffs. He is making a statement... unbias observer... stop bashing him for his observation.
May 1, 2008 9:50 AM ET | Delete
Was the interference call on Begin legit ? I watched on Versus and didn't see a replay (they have a bad habit of either a) not having a replay on penalties or b) not showing the replay if they do have it). I think the bottom line here is that the Flyers are simply more opportunistic than the Habs. I wouldn't discount a Habs comeback, but it doesn't appear likely.
May 1, 2008 9:53 AM ET | Delete
Actually, JoeSabre, Miller's point is that the Habs got screwed last night, when, in actuality, they didn't. If they did, then there's fans of 30 teams that have a gripe about poor officiation. I agree the state of officiation is bad, and if that is what Miller is saying, he's bang on. But I got a different intertretation of what he wrote.
May 1, 2008 9:53 AM ET | Delete
I read this as as Montreal cheated not was cheated as you are implying and it made me laugh. I like to laugh, thank you.
May 1, 2008 10:00 AM ET | Delete
His point is completely invalid...they would have called that penalty on any team at any time in the game. It's too dangerous. I don't think that "interference" was the correct title for it...it should ahve been "boarding" or intent to injure "unsportsmanlike conduct". Too many players have been injured in plays like that (including Briere last season on that hit from Ovechkin). They have to call it and I would have been pissed if the Flyers had pulled that because it's something they have to call.Otherwise I would say that 90% of the game's penalties on both sides shouldn't have been called and had little effect on the play. Half the time when they showed the replay (for both team) I still had no idea what they were calling. They are right though...it's not just badin this series. It's pretty universal across the playoffs.
May 1, 2008 10:08 AM ET | Delete
I don't think the referees are biased at all. Are they doing a good job?...No, but it's something both teams have to deal with. Poor calls will always be a part of the game as long as the referees are human. If you feel the Begin call was indeed a phantom call, then what do you think of the Richards call late in Game 1?
May 1, 2008 10:18 AM ET | Delete
The only two people who seem to have a problem with the call are Carbonneau and millertime. The Montreal press, TSN and everywhere else I've seen has acknowledged that it was a penalty, a stupid, selfish and potentially dangerous hit, but a penalty nonetheless. At any time in the game!
May 1, 2008 11:20 AM ET | Delete
where was your outrage with the penalty called on richards in game 1 that allowed montreal to tie it? be consistent.
May 1, 2008 11:21 AM ET | Delete
on another note, it looks like its contagious in buffalo to write stupid, uneducated things to simply cause a stir and get feedback. thats clearly all you are looking for here, because your whole point is so offbase.
May 1, 2008 12:11 PM ET | Delete
I think most of you have understood this differently than intended. I'd say we all agree that the officiating throughout both the regular season and all playoff series has been sub-par. But both teams have to deal with it, and it does tend to even out. I think Millertime's point was the timing of the call and (in his opinion) non-calls in Game 4. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree as to what should or shouldn't be called, I would like to see more consistentcy in the calls whether it's the first 5 minutes of the 1st period or the last 5 of the 3rd. I thought the Richards call in Game 1 was a penalty, as was Begin's hit last night. Philly fans, please don't start discussing dangerous plays. I've been bashed more than once here for commenting on dangerous plays. If you're changed your mind, I applaud you and think it's worth discussing. That part of the game needs to be addressed. Great example with the AO hit on Briere last year sm623181. Bottom line is Philly has been the better team and has taken advantage of their chances.
May 1, 2008 12:36 PM ET | Delete
the thing that blows my mind the most is all of Carbo's b*tching...he wants to blame everyone but himself...blaming media hype for a penalty call...if media exposure worked thigns could be a lot different in that pittsburgh/NY series...hate to break it to ya Carbo...
May 1, 2008 1:06 PM ET | Delete
Nice blog. I see your point, but since the refs are calling penalties from any where and any time during a game that is why they called the penalty. Before the lockout as soon as the third period came unless there was blood there would be no calls from the third on into overtime. Now the game has changed. I believe montreal beat the bruins in ot because of a penalty as the flyers beat washington that way. Mtl got a win in this series like that and now the flyers have as well.I just wish refs would be consistent on all their calls. I agree with what jsaq said as this was one of the better ref'd games of the playoffs which is kind of sad. But millertime i do agree with you but i believe the flyers did deserve this call as mtl got the call in game 1. Otherwise i would wish the refs would put the whistle away and watch them play.
May 1, 2008 2:10 PM ET | Delete
How can you write something read it and then someone else say its not what he intended? anyway...the officicating is terrible on all sides...so you will never have consistency...
May 1, 2008 3:31 PM ET | Delete
"Before the lockout as soon as the third period came unless there was blood there would be no calls from the third on into overtime. Now the game has changed." Flyers 88, that's the best point I've seen here, and that's one of the biggest things that upsets me. As many people have pointed here, refereeing has been a problem all year and all playoffs long. No consistency, and it's sad.
May 1, 2008 3:33 PM ET | Delete
I'd also like to add that a lot of you Flyers fans are spot on in pointing out the inconsistency in Game 1 (ex: the call on Richards) and the effect that had on the game. Here's the thing - I actually missed that game, but I read about it, and I take your word - Fair enough. But this is my point exactly. Refs can't be deciding games like this. It seems like that happened in Game 1, and IMO, that happened in Game 4 as well. It's not that single penalty I had a problem with, but the amount of non-calls when Philly committed at least a few infractions, as well.
May 1, 2008 3:46 PM ET | Delete
Reffing is worse with 2 of them and I'm not a fan of either team. But I have NEVER seen a player get a penalty for boarding when the boards were not even in play on the check! Unbelieveable! Flyergirl, your right on the money.
May 1, 2008 4:04 PM ET | Delete
In the end if the fans don't start sending letter to Bettman or at least to your teams attention, no one will know how sad their officials look. so, let's all write letter to Bettman and to your teams front office because sooner or later all the Hockey Officials are going come out say the Refs did a great job so far this playoffs. We all know it's going to happen.
May 1, 2008 5:09 PM ET | Delete
great point phi. let's all do that.
May 2, 2008 12:06 AM ET | Delete
I've written Meagher more time than I can count and he did call e-mail me and call me the first few times but I guess i've written too many times. i've also e-mailed the head of officials but never heard back.Bottom line tho....i have no issue with calls late in the game. a penalty is a penalty and for the people who bitch about calls deciding a game, a non call can also decide a game. what if a team has a potential 2 on 1, which is what happened in the Flyers/Caps game 7 and a player is pulled down but no call is made? that directly affects the outcome of the game. a penalty is a penalty no matter if its the first min or the last. My issue is more about the horrible calls. i know the game is fast but these guys are supposed to be the best in the world. the first 4 penalties called on game 4 (2 for each team) were just ridiculous.
May 2, 2008 2:54 AM ET | Delete
fair enough. thnx for the comment nastyflyergirl
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