|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Saving face NHL has yet another solvable public relations problem
Commissioner Gary Bettman and the other NHL decision makers can still save face. The Flyers "goal" that entered through a hole in the side of the Buffalo net and enabled Philadelphia's 2-1 win Friday night can still be discounted -- and it should be. League officials openly admit that the goal should not have counted -- not that that's news to anyone who saw the play. How they let the goal stand in the first place is a mystery and embarrassment the league. It may have cost the Sabres the first-round series, and thus millions of dollars. If I'm Buffalo management, and this happens, I'm taking the NHL to court. The NHL wants to be taken seriously as a pro league, yet it behaves so amateurishly even devoted hockey fans have to laugh (at least those outside Buffalo). Bettman and the league must address this issue like any grown-up who makes a mistake: Replay the end of the game. Set the score at 1-1 and play sudden death until someone scores. That would at least mitigate some of the willful wrongdoing the league is guilty of in this case. There is no possible argument for allowing this goal to stand. None. If the NHL expects to get respect from intelligent fans if it wants to uphold a sense of fair play, it has to replay this game. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
