Jim Love wrote:
   Now I'm *doubly* confused !!  Since when are goals "waved off" if scored
 unintentionally off a defensive player, whatever the man-up/man-down situation
 on the ice ??  [the USA caught a HUGE break here, IMHO]  And, why/when were
 
You didn't pay close enough attention.  The delayed penalty was _against_
USA.  When the USA defenseman touched the puck, the whistle was blown.
The puck _then_ went in the net, but by that time, play had stopped.  The
only controversy was whether the official should have blown his whistle
as quickly as he did.  But once it was blown, no goal could be scored.
_That's_ why the goal was waved off.  Play had already stopped.
 
BTW, this is completely different from the comment made concerning the
pulled goalie.  It is true that the commentator (I forget which one)
emphasized again that Poland, in this case, could pull their goalie with
no risk ("unlike the NHL") of putting the puck in their own goal.
Anyone have access to an olympic hockey rule book?
 
dave