Bri Farenell writes:
>The goal was credited to Kevin Murphy. It was originally credited to
>Murphy and then changed to Currie in the third period. The reason it
>was changed back was because apparently the rules state that in a case
>that, the goal is credited to the opposition player closest to the puck
>at the time.
 
I have seen this mentioned twice now and I'm not sure why.  It sounds
like this reason was supposed to have come from "official" sources
(one poster said it came from the NC$$).  Rule 6-15-10(d) is as clear
as you can get:
 
"A goal shall be credited in the scoring records to a player who
propels the puck into the opponents' goal.  If a goal is scored by a
defensive player, credit shall go to the last offensive player to have
touched the puck. ..."
 
That is from the NC$$'s own Ice Hockey Rules, 1994 edition.
 
So whoever is telling you it goes to the closest opponent, is wrong.
Currie should have gotten it if he was the last Clarkson player to
touch it.  It sounds like everyone agrees he wasn't, however.
 
BTW, in this situation, the goal should be scored unassisted.  There's
no way Currie or anyone else should pick up an assist when the opponent
puts the puck in their own net.  However, the rule book does not
cover this situation (yet).
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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