Paul McCann: When is Offside Not Offside?

So when the offside play happened to the Preds you are free and clear to whine about it but when it happens to the Leafs fans aren’t allowed to whine. Got it. I know you hate the Leafs Paul but cmon.

So when the offside play happened to the Preds you are free and clear to whine about it but when it happens to the Leafs fans aren’t allowed to whine. Got it. I know you hate the Leafs Paul but cmon.
- Adam_The_Golf

Ya exactly what it sounds like.

Not to mention the play wasnt even conclusive to be able to overturn the call on the ice. Was it offside...probably but you cant overturn calls on guess work. Leafs got hosed but that's not really a surprise now is it. Nhl needs to get rid of this challenging offsides rule. Its complete garbage

It was a 4-0 game... Maybe if its a one goal game at the end this would hold more weight, and in all fairness i did not get a chance to watch this game but this doesn't seem like the reason for loss. If the argument is "This changed the outcome of the game because it changed the momentum" then it reflects poorly on the leafs to not be able to bounce back from a bad break. i understand being frustrated with those calls as every team has gotten this bad break before with review but lets not act like this lost the leafs this game. The 4 goals they allowed is what lost the game plain and simple.

C'mon Paul, don't you know that Toronto is in the center of the hockey world? Lol, but your right, the play was offside, thus no goal, the poor sports will get over it, well maybe!

IMO, if the defending team clearly regains possession in the defensive zone any off sides challenge should be immediately negated. Doesn't apply here I don't think, but that would do away with the most egregious challenges I would think.

IMO, the bigger issue is the review doesn’t show any clear offside.

It was a 4-0 game... Maybe if its a one goal game at the end this would hold more weight, and in all fairness i did not get a chance to watch this game but this doesn't seem like the reason for loss. If the argument is "This changed the outcome of the game because it changed the momentum" then it reflects poorly on the leafs to not be able to bounce back from a bad break. i understand being frustrated with those calls as every team has gotten this bad break before with review but lets not act like this lost the leafs this game. The 4 goals they allowed is what lost the game plain and simple.
- headyhedman77

Well it would have tied the game, which would have kept the Preds more on the attack. Even ending the 2nd with a 2-1 lead for the preds, they still would have needed to press to get the insurance. With a 2-0 lead, they had the buffer to play a pure shutdown game.

Didn’t necessarily change the outcome of the game but it certainly didn’t help

Well it would have tied the game, which would have kept the Preds more on the attack. Even ending the 2nd with a 2-1 lead for the preds, they still would have needed to press to get the insurance. With a 2-0 lead, they had the buffer to play a pure shutdown game.

Didn’t necessarily change the outcome of the game but it certainly didn’t help
- Feeling Glucky?

Its fair to say that it impacted the game script but my point is besides the overturned goal, no other goal was scored by the leafs (before or after the call in question). It is not possible to win a hockey game without scoring at least 1 goal so to me i just dont see that this one call was the reason for the leafs losing this game 4-0.

They got outclassed by an elite team. Gotta learn how to play those teams if you want to make it.

Goaltending sure didn't help, Rinne vs Hutchinson just isn't fair

This came across as very whiney Paul. I expected better to be honest.

Re: offsides


It's not about whether the rule is or isn't being properly applied. The problem is in the spirit of the rule. Offside exists so that teams don't cherry pick and gain an advantage.

The advantage, if it even exists, is gone after 30 seconds.

Therefore, calling back goals that have nothing to do with an offside is nonsensical. It is not following the spirit of the law.

If a player gets a breakaway, or a team gets an odd man rush because of an offside, then the rule makes sense.

But if we're talking a goal several scoring chances after the offside, with ten players in the zone, it's completely unrelated.

It's also stupid that it doesn't come into effect unless a goal is scored. If the play stopped for a different reason, would they review the play and take the game back to time the whistle should have went? Of course not.

So it's inconsistent.

Furthermore, and finally, if you need slow motion to tell if a play is offside, then it's not offside in any sense of the word. It's technically offside, but it's a fastidious microscopic pedantic application of the rule, and again, its being applied outside of the reason the rule exists.

No team gets an advantage from being offside to a degree in which can't be viewed by a naked eye.

The overturning of that goal was so egregious that it'd be better to allow the occasional blown call without video reply than to overturn such a goal.

To sum up: that was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen in a hockey game.

Re: offsides


It's not about whether the rule is or isn't being properly applied. The problem is in the spirit of the rule. Offside exists so that teams don't cherry pick and gain an advantage.

The advantage, if it even exists, is gone after 30 seconds.

Therefore, calling back goals that have nothing to do with an offside is nonsensical. It is not following the spirit of the law.

If a player gets a breakaway, or a team gets an odd man rush because of an offside, then the rule makes sense.

But if we're talking a goal several scoring chances after the offside, with ten players in the zone, it's completely unrelated.

It's also stupid that it doesn't come into effect unless a goal is scored. If the play stopped for a different reason, would they review the play and take the game back to time the whistle should have went? Of course not.

So it's inconsistent.

Furthermore, and finally, if you need slow motion to tell if a play is offside, then it's not offside in any sense of the word. It's technically offside, but it's a fastidious microscopic pedantic application of the rule, and again, its being applied outside of the reason the rule exists.

No team gets an advantage from being offside to a degree in which can't be viewed by a naked eye.

The overturning of that goal was so egregious that it'd be better to allow the occasional blown call without video reply than to overturn such a goal.

To sum up: that was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen in a hockey game.
- James_Tanner

It was offside, NO GOAL.

Game on.....it's the same for all teams.

They got outclassed by an elite team. Gotta learn how to play those teams if you want to make it.

Goaltending sure didn't help, Rinne vs Hutchinson just isn't fair
- mgriffen

Game was pretty good I thought, we were all over them...hit a couple posts and had the better scoring opps in the 1st two periods.

We lost...it happens.

Game was pretty good I thought, we were all over them...hit a couple posts and had the better scoring opps in the 1st two periods.

We lost...it happens.
- annoyed

I didnt see the game, and im sure it was closer than the final score was but the stat line doesn't imply a close game. Outshot 32-18 in a game where the preds were playing with a lead for most of it would imply that the leafs could not penetrate the defense posturing of the preds. Although again i didnt see the game so this may be a baseless claim.

We lost...not the first time and definitely won't be the last. We get another shot at them later on in the season. One thing that stood out to me watching this game last night is that the Preds play a 5 mad D system, they don't care about being pretty & cute, just get the job done. This is one thing I wish the Leafs would work on. Yes, the whole world knows they got skill but I see to many times they're trying to make the highlight play with all the pretty pass attempts and all they need to do is make a shot on net. The Leafs keep trying make passes when there's no pass to make. Nashville plays a much simpler game.

yea the stat line is misleading. if you follow most leafs games you will notice that despite owning a top 3 record they are outshot on most nights. so to judge the game solely based on the stat line would not give you a fair picture IMO. This game was 2-0 for 57 mins

That being said, forget about what fans, haters, and pundits are saying, if the TML consider themselves to be SC contenders then they have to find ways to win against good teams even when the calls go against you. It looked like they decided it wasnt their night about the halfway mark and gave up.

Leafs Psyche
Period 1:
- no score. shots almost even. AM34 beat PR but hits the post. It happens, no biggie, move on

Period 2.
- Preds score.
- less than a minute later AM34 scores but the goal is called back. Thats sucks, ok we'll move on and get that one back.
- Johnsson redirects the puck that beats PR but hits the post again. Thats ok guys its still a 1 goal game
- Preds score again. 2-0
- Marner stonned late in the period. starting to feel like the hockey gods arent on our side

Period 3
- Preds put on a defensive clinic (way to go rubbing it in, we know we have no defence)
- yup the hockey gods hate us. might as well mail it in and blame it on them
- Preds score twice late; 4-0

Thank you Predators,

Signed the rest of CAnada

Whooaaaa...anyone else find this blog extremely whiny and hypocritical? Settle down, Paul. You're coming across like a little baby

Issue for me (and most people I talk to) wasn't necessarily the offside in itself but the rather inconclusiveness of the offside review. From the angle shown, the puck is very clearly hidden behind the blade of the stick, at all times. REALISTICALLY, the size of the puck in relation to the amount of stick that was over the line suggests that the puck was MOST LIKELY on/ behind the line when (nylander's?) skate went over the line to create the offside. But, this opens up conjecture and the whole point of the video review is that evidence must be provided to conclusively TURN OVER the call on the ice, which was a called goal. Because there is a hint of speculation, in my opinion it shouldn't have been overturned based on what was shown. Even though I do agree, it was most likely offside.. that's the frustrating part.

Thank you Predators,

Signed the rest of CAnada
- Itsjustarash

Really? 1 of the top 3 teams in the league beat the Leafs.

I would bet the Preds beat them most nights...if I was a betting man.

You're really going to be bitter when we actually start to mature and have a real good team.

Really? 1 of the top 3 teams in the league beat the Leafs.

I would bet the Preds beat them most nights...if I was a betting man.

You're really going to be bitter when we actually start to mature and have a real good team.
- annoyed

Oh I guess you haven't heard yet....half of the Leafs roster is getting offer sheeted or traded this Summer because ...you know...precious cap space! Our 1st line next season will be Kadri, Connor Brown and Zac Hyman, Rest of the lines will be Marlies scraps. Enjoy it while you can!

NSH looking at Carter.

Dennis Bernstein says a low cost Skilled player and a 2nd asset should get it done.

Wonder what NSH can offer to pry carter away.

Well this is dumb... And i refuse to get sucked into it. What's getting lost in all this offside nonsense was that the Leafs and Preds played a pretty good game last night. Toronto didn't play horrible despite what the box score says, they made the Preds earn that win. The Leafs spent a ridiculous amount of time in the offensive zone in the second period, and it's a testament to how well the Preds played defensively to limit them to 18 shots, as well as doing a good job keeping the Leafs away from the front of the net for the most part. The story of this game should've been that of a great offensive team playing a great defensive team, and in this case, the defensive team won out...

As much as I dislike the Leafs at times, I love watching Auston Matthews play. Dude's a frickin' beast. How is that kid only 21, yet it feels like he's been playing in the league for 12 years?

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. I re-watched the sequence, from the time they entered offside, they possessed the puck and it ended up as a goal. The challenge was given, video showed offside, no goal. Pretty straight forward stuff.

And you really don't have to see the puck to know it wasn't in the zone, only a fraction of the stick was over the blue line, the puck was behind it. Unless pucks are now very thin rectangles, it was not over the blue line.