I’m going to go ahead and say that this is going to be a different blog. I’m not going to separate myself from what happened tonight to give you a story like everyone else. How the Avalanche blew this game. How they gave up the Northwest Division. Or how they’re a bad team. Call me a die hard fan, but I saw a few things that really changed the momentum of this game.
For those who don’t know the term Screw Job, I can tell you about a certain situation that happened in the WWF years ago (I know this is a hockey blog, but this is a pretty similar experience in my opinion). The date was November 9, 1997. The match took place in Montreal between WWF Champion Brett Hart and challenger Shawn Michaels. As far as the story line was concerned, WWF Chairman Vince McMahon and Brett Hart were having a bit of a tiff. Due to contract disputes behind the scenes, Brett Hart was leaving the WWF for WCW. They determined that Brett Hart would leave a champion by defeating Shawn Michaels in his final match.
Vince McMahon, however, had a different idea. He was bitter that Hart was leaving and decided to do something about it. Unbeknownst to Hart, McMahon ordered the referee to call the match in favor of Shawn Michaels when Michaels placed Hart in a Sharpshooter submission hold. Even though Brett Hart never tapped out, the ref called for the bell and Shawn Michaels would go on as the WWF Champion. Hart left the WWF bitter and a loser. Again, forgive me for the reference, but I used to write about pro-wrestling for another blog. This reference seemed a bit fitting.
Photo by Michael Martin - Getty Images
A bit of a screw job happened in Denver tonight. I had written a post on my iPhone just after the game, when I was still angry. I’m not sure if I’ll post it at this point, but I had some choice words for the referees of the NHL. They blew some pretty big calls in tonight’s game of the Avalanche vs. the Vancouver Canucks. Mainly the tripping of T.J. Galiardi by a Canuck and the subsequent holding penalty that should never have happened.
As Galiardi fell, the Canuck (who I can’t even remember at this moment) got caught up as well and fell on top of the rookie Avalanche. The Canuck then decided to sit on Galiardi for a good while. Long enough for a play to develop in the Avalanche’s zone. The referees ignored both calls. Eventually, Galiardi got called on a similar tripping call and the Canucks scored a power play goal.
I have a tendency to wonder if these “referees” had made the correct call, if the Canucks would have even won this game 6-4. I wonder if Daniel Sedin would have made an empty netter with seconds left in the game to make it look like a complete bashing. Sure, the Canucks could have tied it up and taken the game to overtime. They could have possibly won in this mythical overtime as well, but at least the Avs wouldn’t have walked away looking like fools.
Photo by Michael Martin - Getty Images
At one point, there was a bad pass by Paul Stastny that Scott Hannan should have tried to recover from. Instead, Hannan stood there, looking much like the Geico caveman at the first sight of fire. “Oooh, me see puck. Puck pretty.” Fool.
I agree that the Avalanche lost steam in the 2nd period and it continued a steady decline as the Canucks scored five unanswered goals, much to the help of crappy defense and the NHL referees. At one time, a goal by the Canucks was reviewed and the call on the ice stood even though Anderson was clearly interfered with. It seemed like every time the Avs started building up some momentum, they were called on a penalty or they were suddenly off-sides.
Photo by Michael Martin - Getty Images
The Avalanche got two goals from Matt Duchene and Chris Stewart scored between them in the 1st. Peter Mueller scored in the 2nd making the score 4-1. After that, it became a different game altogether.
I don’t know who Kelly Sutherland and Kevin Pollock are personally, but they absolutely suck as NHL referees. How about referee school in the off-season, boys? Maybe then you’ll learn how to call a proper game. And just for fun, Jay Sharrers and Dan Schachte could browse over the aforementioned refs notes. How about the refs go to referee school in between every single off-season? There are many, many lessons to be learned and that was so very apparent in Denver tonight.
Maybe it’s just the Avalanche fan in me tonight. Maybe I really wanted the Boys to win this one because they needed it so desperately. I always watch the game with the eyes of a fan, but I know we can all see some bad refereeing when it’s that obvious. I write this blog because I love the Avalanche and I hate to see situations like this happen. But it’s a part of the game, unfortunately.
I’m going to bed. I’m tired of thinking about this game.
Related posts:
- Avalanche Blank Panthers 3-0
- Canucks Blank Avalanche 3-0
- Avs Win 6th Straight, Andy Gets Another Shutout
- Welcome to the Playoffs!
- Sharks Shoot Themselves in the Foot
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