Home HockeyBuzz Register Login
Arlington, TX • United States • 35 Years Old • Male
Did I say happy?...I meant ecstatic, elated, over-joyed! I really hate to make excuses, or have to include the officiating in any writing...so thank-you so much, Mr. Gallagher, for your article...it is 100%, spot on! In fact, I used the phrase "phantom call" seconds after the penalty, as well as in a comment to my new best friend's blog (What a friggin joke--Flyershockey81). This is the last you will hear from me about the refs deciding GAME 7, so enjoy STARS fans! And Canuck fans, players, coaches, and organization members...please make your checks payable to the Shick and Devorski Retirement Fund!!!

Here is the article that appeared in the Tuesday, April 24, 2007, edition of The Province. It was written by Tony Gallagher and titled, It Was Pretty Apparent Refs Were Biased.
_____________________________________________________________________

"As the playoffs roll on and occasions arise when Canucks fans might want to consider the officiating bias, they should remember Monday's Game 7.

If there was ever a collection of circumstances which favoured the home team, this was it. The Dallas string of penalties in the second and third periods which turned the tide Vancouver's way was nothing short of astonishing, a remarkable turn of events to people who have watched NHL playoff hockey over the years.

With Dallas nursing a lead as only they can in the second period, they proceeded to take seven of the next eight penalties, some of them infractions that wouldn't have been considered offences in a pee-wee game.

A tap on the arm of Trevor Linden by Stu Barnes that wouldn't have bruised an egg gave Vancouver a two man advantage for 48 seconds in the second period which allowed the Canucks to generate some crowd noise with some great scoring chances, even though they weren't able to convert. But there's no question it lifted Vancouver off the mat.

The penalty to Joel Lundqvist early in the third period which again got the Canucks going was nothing short of amazing. There appeared to be virtually no contact between offender and offended, yet the arm shot up as though there'd been some kind of mugging. Harry Neale on Hockey Night called it "a brutal call" and Tom Larscheid reportedly referred to it as "a phantom call" on the TEAM 1040. What Dallas coach Dave Tippett thought of it wasn't known until afterwards, when there was no point moaning.

"Baffling," was how Tippett described the work of Rob Shick and Greg Devorski. "Why don't they let the players decide it. The five penalties we took in the second period changed the whole complexion of the game, changed the momentum of the game. ... We could never get our legs under us after that."

The penalty that resulted in the winning goal was another of those new NHL mysteries, the most flattering thing that can be said about it being that it's been called all year, albeit sporadically. As Daniel Sedin circled the Dallas net with the puck, Jeff Halpern was chasing him with his stick in one hand, lifting it to the point of contact around the waist but not impeding him in the least. Sedin didn't even notice he was there.

Doubtless these guys would take the Adolph Eichmann defence of "just following orders", but never in the history of the game have the officials been so prominent in determining the outcome of games."
_____________________________________________________________________

Thanks once again, Mr. Gallagher...the Dallas STARS and all of Texas appreciate the support from across the border!
Filed Under:   stars   canucks   playoffs   nhl   eklund   penalties   referees  
April 24, 2007 7:48 PM ET | Delete
To quote you 'And Canuck fans, players, coaches, and organization members...please make your checks payable to the Shick and Devorski Retirement Fund!!!'. Just to let you know that the calls went both ways all series long. I guess you missed the blatant hit from behind by Nagy on Morrison which was not called. It was several times worse than the play that Linden was penalized on in Game 6. I ended last night with some respect for you ....now I have none. Maybe you missed the hit by Nagy cause you had your face buried in the tissue?
April 24, 2007 8:48 PM ET | Delete
LOL...no respect for agreeing with an article written by a Canadian? Dude...we can still be friends and respect each other...but you can't deny they truth. You got the calls...its that simple. Is that why we lost...not soley...but it certainly didn't give us a chance to come back and it gave the crowd a chance to get stay rowdy! I'll simply ask you one question...how would you have reacted if the shoe had been on the other foot in Dallas. I already stated that I hate to even talk about the officiating. I did see the hit by Nagy and I can't believe they didn't call that. But that just flows with the fact that THE REFS CONTROLLED THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME! Without question your boys stepped up...especially Luongo...but we never got the chance to respond. Don't not respect me because I feel the same way you would have had it been your team in a parade to the box. That being said...I can live without your respect!
April 24, 2007 8:56 PM ET | Delete
"THE REFS CONTROLLED THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME!"=phantom call! Am I supposed to agree cause the article is written by a Canadian? NO! Does it at all matter that the article was written by a Canadian? NO! Yes there were missed calls, there are also missed calls in every freaking game! Officiating is not an exact science, if you want it bad enough you will learn to work past bad calls. It's funny how you agree with me on the brutal hit from behind but you will not comment on the fact that in Game 6 we got called and that led to the 5 on 3 and the game winner. Hmm, something makes me doubt the fact that you hate pointing a the officiating.
April 24, 2007 9:11 PM ET | Delete
It's great how when we get jobbed on the penalty calls you say we are 'undisciplined' and then you get jobbed and "THE REFS CONTROLLED THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME!"
April 24, 2007 9:21 PM ET | Delete
I really do...I hate having to blame the officials...all I ask for is a fair game. Last night was not fair...you got home ice calls you would have gotten in the pre-season. Unfortunately, the refs forgot it was game 7 of a playoff seriers. I'm not saying we would have won...I just would have liked the chance to compete. As far as game 6...boarding is boarding...it happened right off the bat and of course they are going to call it. That call wasn't the issue...it was your moronic defenseman Bieksa (who, by the way, IS KILLING YOUR TEAM) that got his stick up high AFTER they were already on the kill. Here's the difference...you guys brought nothing to the table in game 5 and 6 when you could have finished us off. Your D was (and still is) a mess and your forwards brought zero offense. Only Luongo was magnificent and he still lost both. We brought our stuff in game 7, taking the lead off a great, but simple shot...Turco was brilliant again...and you guys weren't showing much. It took a parade of calls on Dallas to finally get you going. Yes, the officials controlled the outcome of the game...no doubt about it...just look at the difference between the 1st and 2nd/3rd periods. Again...we might not have won...but we sure would have liked the chance! Like the article says...keep the officiating of game 7 fresh in your mind...because I'm gonna be the first one to respond when it goes the Ducks way in a game or 2 or 3...and trust me...IT WILL!!
April 24, 2007 9:26 PM ET | Delete
Bring it on. Officials are part of the game. I happen to like the fact that they make the same call in the playoffs as they do in the pre-season, shows consistency. If your team was so much better then you would have finished us off early in the series but you did not capitalize and you left it to game seven. That's gotta suck.
April 24, 2007 9:28 PM ET | Delete
LOL...YOU WERE UNDISCIPLINED!!! I agree we were also...but only to a point...some of those calls weren't even REAL (ie: the phantom high stick)! I never knew it was a referees job to ASSUME their was a penalty!
April 24, 2007 9:29 PM ET | Delete
Yes...you like only because it allowed your team to move on! We shall see how you feel when the shoe is on the other foot!
April 24, 2007 9:56 PM ET | Delete
April 24, 2007 10:06 PM ET | Delete
Check my post
April 24, 2007 10:36 PM ET | Delete
Ha...Gallagher is known around town to be the worst sports writer around. He often makes things up and cites: "anonymous". He misses the most obvious points and is generally unreliable as a source. So, in fact, this doesn't actually strengthen your point -- it weakens it. How is it that we all forget that in game 6 dallas had twice as many power plays as the canucks and almost twice as much power play time? It all (almost) evens out. In the series dallas had more power plays than vancouver...and in the series there were as many phantom calls against vancouver as for. It's unfortunate that one of these teams had to go out and that Turco's incredible playing ended in defeat. This will probably end up to be the closest of all this year's series.
April 25, 2007 1:40 AM ET | Delete
rdfred, Fellow Canuck fan you are so right but I can't seem to get this guy to understand the message. Then he questions why I put his name in my blog title, the fact is very easy to understand that I am calling you out Newphew23. I am calling you out after you basically gauranteed victory for your Stars who are waking up tomorrow morning to go empty their dressing room stalls. Several of you folk from down in Dallas pretty well gauranteed the victory in game 7 and you just can't accept the fact that the boys did not get it done, yet again. Yes Vancouver was out played, Yes Vancouver did take too many penalties but in the end Vancouver wanted it more, they fought through, pulled together, and our crowd was louder and our 1988 draft pick out played your 1988 draft pick and we won.
April 25, 2007 1:47 AM ET | Delete
Why would the refs favour Vancouver? Vancouver was the most penalized team during the regular season. Do you think NHL secretly told the refs to make Vancouver win? If anything they probably want an American team to win so they can do more expansion in the US. Don't forget the Stanley Cup final with Dallas some years back. I believe Brett Hull's goal in OT. If there was ever a time where officiating favored Dallas it was then. Talk about highway robbery! He was in the crease! Vancouver was not favoured in any way. The calls aren't perfect either. They are made by by people who try to interpret a very fast paced sport. For the most part I feel they accomplished what they set out to do. And that is to call the playoffs like they do during the season. It's been a dramatic change. If you can't stomach the reffing then why don't you become a ref yourself. In closing, I'm sorry to inform you that there's no reffing conspiracy to make the Canucks win the Cup or even the series between Vancouver and Dallas. Although it would be nice. ;)
April 25, 2007 3:33 PM ET | Delete
yeah but there 1988 has more cups then your 1988 pick. I was a neutral observer to the game and i think alot of the calls were weak given that it was a game seven and the refs didn't really let the players decide it. That being said, the new rules are you can't put a stick on the opposing player, and I don't understand why it doesn't get in the head of the players. whether it impeded him or not, can't use the stick. It doesn't matter if sedin knew the stick was there or not, the fact remains it was on his midsection. Its a pernalty in todays age and I love the fact they don't let it digress back into the clutch and grab era
April 25, 2007 6:45 PM ET | Delete
Yes Modano does have more cups but he was not better in this series, especially when it came down to the deciding game.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to leave a comment.

Blog Archive