A number of Dartmouth fans posted opinions that Brown's 5th goal
(a clear back-breaker) against Dartmouth should not have been allowed
on the game last weekend.  Examples:
 
>                            In the third period Dartmouth was assessed a bench
>minor, and Brown scored a controversial power-play goal. The whistle had
>sounded clearly before the puck ever crossed the goal line. This goal decided
>the game as Dartmouth was not able to overcome the two goal defict.
>                           ..........
>                    Then 26 seconds into the ensuing power play, there was a
>scramble in front of the Dartmouth net, a shot on goal, a save by Dartmouth
>goalie Scott Baker,THEN a whistle by the official, THEN the puck trickled over
>the goal line, THEN the goal light lit up and Brown was awarded a goal.
>Everyone in Thompson heard the whistle before the puck went in the net but
>after strenuous discussion, the goal remained on the boards.This fifth goal as
>the result of two horrendous calls proved to be too much for the big green to
>overcome.
>                         .................
>Then Brown scored a goal that just about everyone in Thompson except for the
>Brown bench and the referee thought should have been disallowed.  On the power
>play, Baker made a save on a shot from the point. As Baker covered up the puck
>in butterfly position, the ref blew the whistle.  But Brown captain Mike
>Traggio hacked under Baker and the puck squirted in after the whistle had
>blown. The red light went on, and once the ref saw this, he pointed at the net
>signalling a goal had been scored.  It seemed that the ref was bullied into
>allowing the goal by the fact that the goal judge had turned on the red light.
>Despite Dartmouth protests, the goal stood, and Brown led 5-3.
 
    Well, no Brown net-posters were at the game.  However, I did ask one of
my friends who has SportsChannel to tape the game for me, and I watched it
last night.  I rolled the controversial sequence back and forth again
and again, and, sorry, folks, but the goal was called corectly.
 
    The video very clearly shows a shot redirected right between the
knees of the Dartmouth goalie, THEN Traggio slaps at the goalie's pads,
and THEN (after he poked at it) the whistle.  Where is the puck at the
exact moment that the whistle was blown?  Well, the only camera angle that
SportsChannel had was aimed at the goalie's face, his body would have
blocked a view of a puck directly behind him in the net.  However, what's
the ref doing as he blows the whistle?  Pointing at the back of the net
to indicate a goal. THEN, by the by, the goal light comes on.
 
    It was the opinion of the SC announcers, who ran the tape several
times and even blew up the mag a bit, that the puck never stopped,
that the goalie had never made a save, and that the ref blew the whistle
when he saw the puck cross the line, not to indicate that the puck had been
tied up.
 
   Naturally, all this was a lot easier to figure out by running the tape
10 times a frame at a time than it would be right in the rink in real time,
but it's pretty clear the ref made the right call.
 
   On the issue of the penalty itself (which was off-screen and missed
by both the SC camera and announcers) that led to the goal, it seems to
me that the issue of whether or not the Brown player took a swing
(and missed) at the bench players who were holding him is not relevant.
Players on the bench are supposed to keep themselves out of the action
at all times, and it sounds as though they did not.  Therefore, the bench
minor.
 
   Dartmouth, by the way, played a great game, and except for about 2
minutes of bad defense and poor goaltending, they could have won this one.
Brown should be worried about Dartmouth coming down to Meehan next
month loaded for bear!