Imagine this scenario….(stay with me..there’s a point to this)
You are in a foreign country. You’re in a busy bank and have just taken out money. The bank lobby is full of people pushing their way around and it gives you a generally uneasy feeling. Suddenly,you’re comforted by the fact that you see two armed guards, one on each side of the bank. So you stuff your money in the pocket of your coat and push your way through the crowd.
There’s a sense of relief when you get through the rushing people and step outside the bank. You reach into your pocket to check for your money and feel nothing. Your heart drops. Your money is gone! Someone must have robbed you on the way out. Very upset, you go back into the bank, up to one of the guards and say, “ I think I was robbed” and you go on to explain what happened.”
The guard looks at you and says, “OK, but you know in our country it’s against the law to fake being robbed? Up to 30 days in jail.”
“But I was robbed. I know I was,” you reply, but start thinking about it and start to question your own thoughts. You were nervous and you were racing to get out. Maybe the money fell out of your pocket and you weren’t actually robbed….
At that point, you feel a sense of relief as you notice that there’s a security camera right above the guard and say to him, “The camera! You have it on tape!”
“Yes, we do. However, we can only check the camera footage if you request it.”
“ I request it.”
“ Are you certain you want me to do that?”
“Of course!”
The guard starts into a statement that you can tell he said to many before…/‘Before you make your decision, I have to remind you that if there’s not 100% proof on that camera, you will be charged with faking a robbery and face jail time.”
You believe you were robbed…but if its not on the camera….
WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT?
Welcome to the NHL Coach’s Challenge Lunacy..
In both the Leafs/Sens and Habs/Caps games, there was a questionable situation where it appeared the puck was shot clear over the glass… But no one knew for sure. Since both games were incredibly close, Craig Berube and Martin St. Louis had to decide whether or not they were going to challenge the call. Montreal lost the challenge and was given a penalty.Berube was afraid that it might not be conclusive, so he took some time to look at it.
While he’s taking the time to look at it, the four referees are standing right in front of the box where they can see the replay.
So let’s look at the spirit of this rule.
The spirit of this rule is that if coaches start challenging every call, we will be here forever. And that argument is not without merit… Especially if something like this were to happen in the first period of a nothing-nothing game during the regular season…
I’ve been writing for years that at one point, if the NHL didn’t change this role in the playoffs, especially in the third period and overtime of the playoffs, there was going to be some kind of controversial play that would come back to bite them.
If the NHL wants to play with the big boy leagues in the States and wants to be a viable sport to gamble on, they need to take a cue from the NFL. Late in a game, anything that is 100% conclusive to the referees is checked quickly to make sure they got it right.
I usually really think the NHL does the right thing and competes with these leagues because they’ve upped their game over the years…. But this rule. The way this is challenged…..The way it’s all put on the coaches to decide if they think it was a good play while the referees discuss the weather….
The whole delay of game thing goes out the window. We know this is true because watching the game on TV, we already have the likely conclusion before the coach has even made his decision to challenge it.
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