MIke  writes:
> Gary Hatfield writes:
> >The TV replay clearly indicated that the wistle blew BEFORE the goal
> >was scored.  In blew simultaneously with the shot by Checco which was from
> >about five feet.  So technically, Buzzy was wrong to reallow the goal.
> >On the other hand, the whistle had no impact on the play.  That is, I
 
> What!?  If you are correct that the whistle blew before the goal was
> scored, then it should not have counted.
 
> It doesn't matter what impact the whistle might have had on the play
> either...the determining factor is whether it blew before the puck
> went in the net.
 
I saw the replay Sunday night (Woog was on Sports Wrap...) and taped it.  It was
not clear (to biased little me or to biased Mr. Woog) whether the whistle was
before the puck was in the net.  It looked to me like it was blown after the
puck was past the goalie but before it hit the back of the net, but it's pretty
hard to say if it was before it crossed the goal line.  Realistically, the
whistle could only have been blown AFTER Checco touched the puck (as only then
would it have been a hand-pass.)  And he merely quickly redirected the puck into
the net.  Regardless, there is no way the whistle affected the goalie's reaction
to the play.
 
In theory, I imagine play should have been dead the instant Checco touched the
puck (regardless of when the whistle was), because one of the officials thought
it was a hand pass.  In reality it should have been dead the instant the
official sounded the whistle, which would have been a tad after Checco touched
it.  I'll still hold that, morally, it should have been a goal because the
whistle didn't affect the play and the official was wrong in thinking it a hand
pass.
 
So I'll (again, we all know I'm biased, so take this with a grain of salt if you
want) say that it was not a bad decision by the officials, in the absense of a
definitive decision on when the whistle was (and, heck, they didn't even have
the replay), to make the decision they did because the whistle didn't affect
play.  We all know that had he not blown the whistle in time and it HAD turned
out to be a hand pass, they still would have disallowed the goal, even though
the whistle hadn't yet sounded.
 
Oh, and, for the record, I looked at the tape in slo-mo and it looked as if the
puck may have actually only bounced off Kraft's arm, as he insisted in post-game
interviews.  In any case, he was definitely the next person to touch it, and he
did definitely use his stick to pass it to Checco.  But I realize the goal still
remains in dispute.
 
Pam Sweeney                             Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask]       1993 & 1994 WCHA Playoff Champions
                                   1994 NC$$ PHinal PHour
                                        Ski-U-Mah!!!