NHL needs to be accountable for Pronger call
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
NHL needs to be accountable for Pronger call
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Referee Ghislain Hebert has some ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy.
So does the NHL.
Hebert, in his first full season as an NHL referee, needs to be held accountable for the manner in which he made a call Friday, costing the Flyers a victory over visiting Calgary.
But don’t hold your breath.
Hebert ruled that the Flyers’ Chris Pronger waved his hand in front of Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff and gave him a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The call negated a Mike Richards overtime goal that would have given the Flyers a 3-2 win.
Instead, the Flyers lost in a shoot-out, 3-2.
Replays showed Pronger with his left arm raised and quickly brought down _ and no penalty called until three seconds later, after Richards’ shot went past Kiprusoff. When Richards took his shot, Pronger’s stick was down, with both hands clutching it.
After the game, reporters tried to find out why the ref waited three seconds before calling the penalty.
On Saturday, after my repeated calls and e-mails, the NHL issued a lame statement by Terry Gregson, the league’s senior VP and director of officiating:
"The spirit and intent of the unsportsmanlike conduct rule is to keep an acceptable hockey decorum in the game, in this case when a player is screening,” Gregson said. “This type of act is outside the normal boundaries and needs to be controlled for the good of the game.
"This type of action _ fortunately for the game and for our officials _ has been a rare occurrence (and) it must be penalized when witnessed."
Blah, blah, blah.
I told the PR executive who sent the statements that I needed to talk to Gregson, needed to find out why the call was not made immediately. I also had other questions _ such as why the NHL does not make it mandatory for a referee to explain a controversial decision, and if the fact Pronger had his back to the goalie would have affected the call.
I was told Gregson was traveling.
Several hours earlier, I gave the NHL my cell number and asked Gregson to call me.
He never did.
Draw your own conclusions.
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For constant Flyers updates, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BroadStBull.
Hey Sam, why in the hell do YOU think the NHL should answer to YOU?— Birdie17- Because that's how the press works. The NHL should answer to its paying customers, the fans. Since a few million (ok thousand) fans constantly bombarding the league offices with questions would not be efficient, reporters ask the questions, collect the answers, and REPORT back to the public. You know, like how it worked before the media was overrun with blowhards trying to shout each other down and advance their own agendas.— JettMartinez
- Birdie, who SHOULD the NHL answer to? Congress ? Did you think about your comment before you said it or were you to busy being a Phildelphian?— franky
Comment removed.- it was a bs play by pronger who deserved the penalty— notch44
- I think every flyer fan should contact league office. In all of my years of watching hockey...that is close to the top as worst call to reverese a clear victory.— Tripod691
- Comment removed.
- Sometimes the NHL has all of the elements of professional wrestling. When it knows it doesn't have a clear-cut position on a controversy, the leadership goes into turtle mode. They did it with the whole Simon Gagne/FSN Pittsburgh replay, they're doing it now with the Commissioner/e-mail controversy, and they'll do it with this because they didn't have a clear cut rule in place which filtered down to the on-ice officials hesitating to make a call which in turn screwed the Flyers out of a goal. Just another day in a professional league that can't even figure out how to consistently penalize potentially career-ending head shots.— stormrider
- This is really terrible. Reminiscent of the "crease-gate" down in Dallas when Buffalo lost in triple over time to lose the cup when Hull's skate was in the crease. The NHL needs to let pucks in the net count as goals.— drew138
- I'm a bit more upset that the Flyers failed to take advantage of the 6 power plays they got than the call, which actually does follow a precedent set by the league. The timing of the call was brutal, but the call was actually a valid one.— JSaq
- Why are there 2 refs? Is there a senior ref who can overturn a bad call? I hope frog gets demoted to juniors.— brio
- For any moron who does not watch hockey, that was a terrible call and reactionary. I am not a pessimist that thinks the Flyers always get cheated, they don't. As a long time hockey player and fan, this league and it's officials are an embarrassment to hockey fans everywhere, that play had no effect on the goalie, the call was late and very very marginal, the rule states intent, there was no intent and you do not negate a game winning goal 4.2 seconds later with no convictions, stand behind your call at least and defend it. There is no accountability in this sport, which is why is continues to be the most exciting game, but least watched sports league by a long shot.— SW FL Phan
- The ref blew the call, man up.— joepir
- Sam-Let it go,it's clear Ghislain Herbert blew the call,no one is rushing to his defense.By the way,I believe he's still on a split NHL-AHL contract so your claim that he's in his first full year is wrong.
Stormrider-Good points but your last sentence could be applied to the NFL as well.— (reeducated)Yankee Air Pirate - For those of you who think that was a legitimate call, you obviously understand the rules as poorly as Hebert. The Flyers DID score on the powerplay, but the refs botched it yet again. Thanks, Sam, for making the effort.— Bazalite
