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That Other WCHA Officiating Controversy

This kind of got buried thanks to the bigger  WCHA officiating officiating fiasco on Friday, but is worth mentioning nonetheless.

Colorado College beat Minnesota State 1-0 in overtime on Friday night, with a powerplay goal in overtime. Minnesota State head coach Troy Jutting obviously wasn't willing(or able) to say much about the end of the game, but you can read between the lines of Scott Owens' post-game quote: "(Howe) played great, and we got a little lucky," Tigers coach Scott Owens said. "He allowed us to hang around and win a game on a night when we probably should have tied."

How did the Tigers get lucky on a night they probably should have tied? The crew at Bethany Lutheran College who broadcasted the game did a good job of posting the play in question for all to see.

You can definitely see where maybe Canzanello holds on a little too long and by the book, it might be a penalty. That said, there is a minute left in an overtime game, the infraction didn't negate a scoring chance, and there had been a fairly strong precedent set by the officials by not calling a single penalty--other than one set of coincidental minors--in the previous 22 minutes of play, including looking the other way on numerous similar "well, maybe technically by the book" infractions.

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Sorry, Chris, but you’re wrong.

(This isn’t bias talking, either. As you know, there are really just two teams in the league that I can’t think about rationally — for different reasons. CC and MSU are not on that list.)

That’s a penalty. I don’t care if it’s the first period of an exhibition game, or if it’s overtime of the national championship game. That’s a penalty.

Canzanello got flat-out beat, and he grabbed Rapuzzi.

I’ve learned a lot of things covering this game as closely as I have in recent years, and one of the tops on the list is “If your best argument against a penalty is the timing of the call, you don’t have much of a realistic argument.”

As for the consistency argument, there aren’t a lot of hockey officials on Earth who are perfect when it comes to that. It doesn’t fly, because surely MSU and CC both got away with stuff over the course of the game that was more flagrant.

At least you didn’t have to deal with a six-on-three in the last 90 seconds of a game after nothing was called for the first 17:43 of the third period. :)

Emotions take over sometimes when you’re calling a game (duh), so I’m not ripping the MSU TV guys at all. But let’s not react that harshly four days later. That’s kinda silly.

by bciskie on Nov 17, 2009 2:02 PM PST reply actions  

I was at the game. Clearly a penality that needed to be called regardless at what point of the contest it came. If Rapuzzi had not been held he had a good chance to retain the puck and a scoring chance. The scoring chance ended because he was held.

Almost every game CC wins Owens talks about luck, he was not referring to any single play during that Friday game. Part of Owens standard post game report is to include the word “luck” after a CC win.

by pucks on Nov 17, 2009 6:07 PM PST reply actions  

The WCHA officials are brutal at least someone wasn’t almost decapitated in your game. I would say that I have to agree with Bruce Ciskie the time a penalty is called in a game irrelevant. I hear that argument all the time but I am not buying it. The problem with the WCHA officials is that they don’t consistently call the game like they are supposed to be called.

by Eric B on Nov 18, 2009 6:18 AM PST reply actions  

I just watched the video again and don’t agree that Canzanello was “flat-out beat” on the play. Rapuzzi dumps the puck before or at least as he’s getting stood up at the blue line. Canzanello rides him – perhaps for too long per the rules added last season, but how many times do you see that called at any point in a game? I

 think a case could be made that Rapuzzi takes a bit of a dive. Players in this league are simply too strong of skaters to just go down like – especially against a player like Canzanello who’s hardly the strongest D-man in the WCHA – yet that seems to happen a lot. I think a no-call there was in order

by kato on Nov 18, 2009 8:13 AM PST reply actions  

Bad Call

No question about it, this is a bad call. I can’t believe anyone would defend the official here. If you watch the video closely it’s just a matter of the two players getting tangled, and the CC player does as much grabbing as the MSU defenseman. The two players became tangled when the CC player lifts his left arm and tries to pull a swim move, he essentially throws himself off balance and makes an awkward progression to the ice. If you were at the game there were about 20 more legitimate opportunities to call a penalty at less crucial points in the game. Just garbage!

Any penalty called in overtime better be flagrant. Call me a hockey traditionalist, this was ticky-tacky at best.

by MSUMaverickFan on Nov 24, 2009 3:33 AM PST reply actions  

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