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Another fine 'mesh' Flyers, Sabres had two different views of 'phantom goal'
Posted: Saturday April 15, 2000 04:07 PM
By Al Strachan, Toronto Sun PHILADELPHIA -- It was hard to believe the two teams had played the same game. In the Buffalo Sabres dressing room, all the talk was of the goal that never was -- John LeClair's shot through the mesh that was allowed to stand in the second period. In the Philadelphia Flyers room, there was hardly any mention of that play. Instead, the Flyers wanted to talk of their gritty comeback and the 2-1 victory that put them up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference quarter-final. When asked about the controversial play, Flyers defenceman Chris Therien got a blank look on his face. When someone explained what had happened, he said, "I haven't seen it, so I'm not going to say anything. It kind of stunned me here. Are you guys sure?" When assured that there was no doubt, he said, "If that's the case, we'll take the gift, if that's what it is." That's exactly what it is. With the Sabres up 1-0 on Miroslav Satan's conversion of a perfect pass from Jason Woolley, LeClair let go the kind of routine shot that Buffalo goaltender Dominik Hasek invariably handles with ease. But suddenly, this one was in the net. Hasek appeared shocked. The goal judge turned on the light, and the two referees allowed play to resume after a centre-ice faceoff. The video judges, whose job it is to review every goal and make sure it's valid, did not phone down a complaint. Buffalo forward Dixon Ward picks up the story from there. "It doesn't matter if I see it go through the side of the net like I did," he said. "It doesn't matter if I go to the officials and tell them. They won't listen. They won't go and tell them to review it. "I saw the puck shot. I saw Dom's pad right against the post. I can't figure out how the puck went in. Before we can do anything, the puck's dropped. Then they're looking at the replay and they find out it's no goal." On his next shift, Ward did some sleuthing. "I went right down to the side of the net to see if there was a hole in the net and we found it -- a huge hole where the puck went through." It's a bitter pill for the Sabres to swallow. They still feel that they lost the Stanley Cup last year on a goal that should have been called back. "It's embarrassing is what it is," Ward said. "We can't say anything because we've been dictated to: Smile and promote the game and say what a wonderful game it is and what a wonderful job everyone does. "It's frustrating because (it was a) great game and, regardless of the outcome, it has to be marred by something stupid again." Why didn't he complain before the puck was dropped? "You can't get anybody's attention," he said. "They won't talk to you, so what are you supposed to do?" Ward figured the National Hockey League eventually would find an explanation. "It'll be Rule 36 B, double-A, addendum 14. I'll probably get in trouble for saying stuff, but we weren't allowed to say anything last year. We got muzzled. I don't want to criticize, but sometimes the integrity of the game becomes at stake. It's not Philadelphia's fault. It's not John LeClair's fault. it's not the goal judges' fault. I don't know whose fault it is, but it's too bad it happens, that's all I'm trying to say." Still, there was a lot of hockey to be played after that and Philadelphia did more of it than the Sabres. Eventually, the Flyers scored the winner on a power play in the third period when Rhett Warrener had a golden opportunity to clear the puck but misconnected and slid the puck to Mark Recchi on the point. Recchi passed to Eric Desjardins who blasted a shot past Hasek. "Luckily, I got a great pass," Desjardins said. "I had a little bit of time and I looked at the net and went high. It's funny because right before the power play, Craig Berube said, 'Next one you have on him, make sure you go high.' " Taking scoring tips from Berube is like taking sex tips from the Pope, but it worked. Hasek went down, the shot went up and the Flyers are now ahead 2-0 in the series, a position they've been in on 17 other occasions in their history. And they won all 17. After the game, the league issued what has to be one of the least convincing explanations of a controversy ever. And in the NHL's case, that says a lot. First, it was pointed out that the referees didn't overrule the goal -- as if that's their job. Then it says that the replay angles available to the video judges "appeared" to support the stance that the goal was good. It wasn't until ESPN showed a net-cam shot that the video judges looked at their own angles again and realized the error of their ways. But ESPN didn't show the net-cam shot until five minutes after the incident. Apparently, that makes it their fault. Rule 36B (aa) xiv, no doubt.
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