Offside is the proper call. Replay did fail in this case. I think everyone can agree that 'by rule' this goal should have been reversed. I suggest that rule is flawed. Not offside per se, but being able to review offside calls. In this case specifically, the lack of the official making an offside call did NOT directly lead to the goal. Play was allowed to continue which eventually led to a goal being scored. You only see an offside non-calls reviewed when a goal is scored. If a save was made (or the zone cleared), no one would be talking about this play.

If the review is allowed for the purpose of goal nullification (no matter how much later in the play sequence it occurred as long as play continued in the zone) should it be used to nullify a penalty that could be called in the same sequence? For example, CAR comes in offside but play isn't stopped. Rather than allowing the shot that scored the goal to be released a CBJ player is in position to hook the shooter, thus a penalty is called rather than a goal being scored. Could (or should) Torts be able to argue that if the correct offside call have been made there would have been no hooking to stop the scoring chance?

The fact is that technology showed a referee missed the call and it could have been corrected, but in this case was not. Is human error part of the game? Players make mistakes that lead to goals, those are errors. Should the officials be held to a much higher standard. That replay had to be reviewed frame-by-frame to determine offside. While there was video evidence, watching it in 'real time' the offside was not egregious. The flow of the game continued as referees are taught and a goal was eventually scored.

Last point on this discussion. What happens when an official calls offside and it was an error. The game is stopped and no team is given an advantage and a face off is had. Why is this fair to the attacking team. The referee made an error, their could be video evidence proving the error, but there is no special treatment for this situation. Let me be clear, I don't believe there should be. My point is that errors by officials happen, just like errors by players and coaches. This IS part of the game. Using replay to review offside is inconsistently applied to only goal-scoring plays. Since it cannot be consistently applied to all plays it should be removed. Further, if it were applied to all plays it would result in more stoppages and slow the game down removing the flow of hockey that we all love. Using replay to review goals is good, to apply offside as a way to nullify a goal scoring play is bad. There, that is my two cents. Climbing down off my soapbox now.

Laine Benched

This was inevitable, right? It just came much sooner that most CBJ fans thought it might. Regardless of his reasoning, which can be debated, Torts uses benching as a punishment. It is what he does, everyone, especially the players know this. Which begs the question, is his time running out in Columbus? A brief look at his coaching career suggests it might. He spent six-and-a-half seasons in TBL, five-and-a-quarter seasons in NYR and now is in his 6th season behind the CBJ bench. He has a reputation of being hard on players, but also getting the most out of them. Most players don't enjoy his style while the are playing for him, but can appreciate his results afterward when they reflect on their time playing for him. His style of discipline gradually improves teams into consistent winners. He did it in TBL, NYR and now in Columbus. That much is true. But this style can lead to 'losing the room'. I don't believe we are there yet in Columbus, but it may be coming soon.

Retirement

The signing of Mikko was a bit odd to me when it happened. I stated at the time I would have rather taken the chance on Bobby Ryan. That said, this signing was low risk, it also turned out to be low reward. I admire a player who knows their time has come and is willing to sacrifice pride for the betterment of the team. Mikko had a great career, but he should have retired playing his entire career as part of the Wild.

Status Update

Columbus sits in 4th place in the Central (according to points). Two teams below them, DAL and CAR have better winning percentages and fewer games played. Those winning percentages are significantly higher, or I would not have mentioned it. Of note, CBJ did just split both series with those teams recently.

Next the Union Blue faces CHI on the road Thursday and Saturday. Both are winnable games and anything less that 3 points could be trouble. Just a weird scheduling quark, the Jackets have played every Thursday since the start of the season and will continue to do so until April 29th. No real significance there, just an odd observation.

Good Luck and GO JACKETS!

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