GOAL OR NO GOAL? EX-NHL NETMINDERS SAY THEIR PIECE
Two games in Anaheim-Edmonton series hinged on the interpretation of interference
They are not china dolls, fragile flowers in pads that wilt every time they are nudged, nor should they be treated that way.
Ask alumni members of the NHL’s goalie guild and they’ll be the first to tell you that. The only thing they ask: Let goalies do their jobs when it comes to making saves.
The issue of what is and isn’t goalie interference has been a hot-button topic in these Stanley Cup playoffs, especially when it comes to the Anaheim DucksEdmonton Oilers series.
We enlisted the help of three former goalies-turned-analysts as part of a Postmedia roundtable on goalie interference: Hockey Night in Canada’s Kelly Hrudey, Dallas Star commentator Daryl Reaugh and MSG broadcaster Glenn Healy.
KELLY HRUDEY
“I am all for incidental contact. I think there should be little battles going on in front of the net. The guys trying to get there for position, the goaltender attempting to claim his space, I have no issue with that. I have an issue with when it’s clear that a goalie is trying to make a save and he’s being interfered with. It’s really not that complicated.
“Everybody around the game knew what (Ryan) Kesler was doing (in Game 5 of the Anaheim-Edmonton series). I don’t blame Kesler. You do what you can to get an edge, but it’s up to the officials to get it right.
“(The Anaheim-Edmonton Game 4 goal, in which Corey Perry’s skate made contact with Oilers goalie Cam Talbot) was up to interpretation. I would have leaned toward no goal on that one.”
DARYL REAUGH
“I think my biggest concern is, if they went with some kind of no-contact policy, period, in the crease area, then you’re just inviting goalies to not even try to fight through anything to make a save, they’re just going to flop with the understanding they’re inviting a little bit of pain. It’s a bit of a leap of faith. Is it: ‘Am I going to just let the puck go in because I know it’s not going to count?’ I think that’s what scares
(the league) about going to something like that. Because it’s things like: Was he pushed in? Was he not? Did he attempt to leave the crease?
“You don’t want goalies to be vulnerable. But … it can’t always be the other guy falling on you and then you hope the referees or the league rule in your favour. The calls that result in penalties, I believe in those ones. It’s the ones that just wipe out a goal, it’s like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Really?’”
GLENN HEALY
“Allow the goaltender within the space of the blue paint to do his job. And if he’s impaired from doing that job in the blue paint, that crosses the line between what’s legal and what’s illegal.
“If that’s what the rule is supposed to be, let’s not complicate things by bringing the competition committee into it or having a hockey summit. The rule’s the rule…
“The hard part for me if a player is cross-checked into the goaltender, and a lot of times, let’s face it, you can’t rule on intent. Intent doesn’t really exist in the rule book. You can’t guess what’s in someone’s mind. But, hey, if I’m a player and (a defender) is on the back of me, I’m going to jump on the goalie, too…
“But when you have four referees and an entire war room in Toronto watching them, I tend to think they’re going to get most of them right. At the same time, how many pairs of eyes are watching a particular goal? Twelve? The guys in the war room, no one watches more hockey than them — no one. They could probably tell you the rap sheet on every player in the league. They know the Glenn Andersons of the world. When Glenn Anderson came down the wing, you had to get your stick ready — because he’s taking the puck to the net and he’s coming right through you.”