Posted: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 11:46 PM | 22 comments |
 

NHL needs to reveal action in Goalgate
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     The NHL said it will handle Goalgate internally, implying it will not announce how it disciplines a Pittsburgh TV station for its deplorable conduct last Thursday in a game between the Flyers and host Penguins.

     That would be a disservice to everyone who follows the NHL. The league needs to hand out a stiff penalty, do it swiftly _ and end all suspicion that something fishy is happening with its flawed replay system.

     Simply put, if the NHL doesn't have the trust of its fans, it is going to lose followers by the thousands.

     Some background: The Flyers' Simon Gagne appeared top score a shorthande goal in Pittsburgh last Thursday. But after FSN Pittsburgh sent replays to the NHL's replay gurus in Toronto, it was ruled that the evidence was inconclusive and that the goal did not count.

     A few minutes later, however, FSN showed a replay to its TV audience that showed the puck over the goal line. This replay was not sent to Toronto until after the "no goal" ruling.

    On Tuesday, FSN indefinitely suspended a member of its telecast staff, Lowell MacDonald Jr., for the withheld replay, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.  He is the son of former Penguins player Lowell MacDonald.

     In a statement, FSN _  the local broadcasts rightsholder for the Penguins _ said, "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game. During last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a definitive replay of a Flyers goal was not aired prior to the conclusion of the official review and, as a result, a Flyers goal was not awarded. Fortunately, this did not change the outcome of the game. Nonetheless, FSN Pittsburgh's failure to provide video to the league officials in a timely fashion was wholly unacceptable. FSN Pittsburgh has addressed this matter and has taken steps to ensure that such a failure does not occur again."

      The Flyers won the game, 7-4.

      The Penguins also issued a statement: "We fully support FSN Pittsburgh in its reaction to this issue. The integrity of the game is paramount."

    That's why this suspension is just window dressing. The NHL needs to send a message to TV rightsholders all around the league: Mess with the system, and you will be heavily fined and your team will also suffer consequences _ perhaps the loss of a draft pick?

     This is serious stuff, even if the NHL is apparently trying to cover it up. How else do you explain why, as of 11:45 Tuesday night, the league had never mentioned the controversial developments in any of its stories on nhl.com?
 
Posted by Sam Carchidi @ 11:46 PM  Permalink | 22 comments
22
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:08 AM, 01/13/2010
    The NHL should assume full control of the entire replay system and apparatus. Legislate cameras at certain spots for every game, and station the local replay official in the production room, so he has immediate access to all replay views. What other league relies on third party contractors paid by the individual teams to help officiate the games?
    — JSaq
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:58 AM, 01/13/2010
    Agreed, JSaq. It's unbelievable to me that this is the way the replay system works for the NHL. I've been a Flyers fan my whole life and I had no idea the NHL left it up to individual broadcasts. That's completely ridiculous, in my opinion. How did they not see something like this coming? It's obvious that there is a huge risk of a conflict of interest. How stupid. But then again, it is the NHL. Expecting them to do anything correctly is giving them too much credit.
    — phillyfan412
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:54 AM, 01/13/2010
    Pittsburg homerism. How about some kind a laser projecting from the net posts, a puck with a sensor crossing the goal plane would trip the laser to indicate a goal. Come on, this is the 21st century. Bar codes were invented in the 70's.
    — road515
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:37 AM, 01/13/2010
    Busted.
    — potus
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:12 AM, 01/13/2010
    there's no suspicion that there's something fishy going on sam. we've all known it for certain for quite some time now. nhl is a joke. i'm glad this happened and right on the heels of this the alex burrows thing comes out. don't know who's right there, but i saw both the penalties and they were really weak. knowing the nhl, i tend to side with burrows. either way, it's great to see the nhl look like the sham it is. the "hockey men" up top all have to go. sweep the league offices clean of this trash. oh also hard to believe that this guy gets suspended. how can it not be an immediate dismissal for him. should be more than that coming, but probably won't. bettman is "internally" figuring out how long it will take before he can award pittsburgh more blatant advantages without it being a story. from what i see of the national media, he's done a good job of squashing this story. thank god it's against philly and not some place where the fans don't care or nobody would ever hear about it.
    — kappadonna
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:42 AM, 01/13/2010
    I'll be fascinated to see how the league handles this: more specifically, I'll be fascinated to see whether anything of substance results, particularly since it involves one of the franchises for which there is a substantial perception that the league affords special/preferential treatment. Cynic that I am, my sense is that the bottom line will be no more than a reprimand, and that it will be business as usual thereafter. Am I surprised that something like this happened? Not at all. Am I surprised that the league front office is doing its utmost to quash something ugly involving a favored franchise. Not at all. Is it of a piece with the general low level of competence in officiating the game, including the sometimes-blatant biases on the part of officials, both on the ice and off? Most certainly. This is just another indication of the bias, favoritism, and corruption of the league front office and the officiating that will be solved only by firing Gary Bettman and his minions in a thorough purge--which, by the way, I doubt will ever happen. It's interesting to speculate what might be happening now if the roles were reversed: if the Penguins had somehow gotten jobbed out of a goal in Philadelphia, there would probably be an investigation that would rival the Warren Commission with terminating/moving the franchise as a possible outcome.
    — 1940LaSalle
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:00 AM, 01/13/2010
    JSaq, the NFL uses the feeds from the network too. It would be cost prohibitive to assume control of the replay system. Sam, you're going off the deep end with the draft pick losing. You can't punish the team for a TV station. Fine the station.
    — HandNik
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:47 AM, 01/13/2010
    National broadcast coming up 1/24 (unless GB reverses that decision). Who's got the seats behind the goals, players benches and penalty boxes? Get those signs ready to go, take the message to the street. Update the 'hey ref you suck' chant to reflect current events? I doubt we'll hear NBC's traveling Syd-fest mention it. If the Peni's contracted with the broadcaster, then the team should absolutely take responsibility for their vendor and be held accountable. A draft pick seems about right, most teams treat them like a bag of pucks anyway.
    — no_shootouts
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:56 AM, 01/13/2010
    I never understood why they had to review calls like this at the league offices IN TORONTO!!! The NFL handles it the right way, with an official in the booth. It seems like a no-brainer that the NHL should adopt the same practice. I don't know if I agree that the team should lose a draft pick, but I do believe that the home team needs to be above reproach and have someone from their organization in the booth along with an official to make sure that the right call is made. At that point, if the same thing happens, then you have a chain of responsiblity. Right now, the home team broadcasters should be held responsible and penalized appropriately.
    — Geno59
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:57 AM, 01/13/2010
    ESPN finally posted an article about this last night. This needs to be done with transparency to prevent the NHL from covering it up like the Patriots videotaping scandal, the Tim Donaghy Scandal, and the Mitchell Report. Suspending a scapegoat and letting the story die stinks of a coverup. One thing that needs to happen is that FSN Pitt should be banned from the wachovia center. Don't let the Penguins scum watch their team on their cheating tv channel.
    — Pelti
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:05 AM, 01/13/2010
    Yes 1940LaSalle I agree, there is a bias, and until it is corrected, the NHL will continue to be a second-tier sport. As far as on ice officiating is concerned, the way the Pens seem to get calls, protecting Crybaby Crosby is almost a league mandate. I'm not going to complain that we NEVER get the benefit of the calls, because sometimes we do, but it seems that only the teams with UPPER ECHELON superstars get extra attention. I never understood how that has been allowed to continue. It's so obvious. Because of the Broad Street Bullies reputation, the Flyers have NEVER been one of those teams - even during the Lindros era.
    — Geno59
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:37 AM, 01/13/2010
    good reporting Sam. Keep it up. Philly.com is the only place I hear any news about this at all.
    — Inchon
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:32 PM, 01/13/2010
    The story is on the NHL website now ... but the headline is FSN Admits Error ... "ERROR" ... You've got to be kidding me!!!
    — seventh
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:32 PM, 01/13/2010
    This shouldn't even be an issue. Yeah, we all know about the love fest between the Pens and the NHL, but even based on the other replays, how could anyone have determined that the puck could have been anywhere but well beyond the goal line before it reappeared on the line? It's very simple deductive reasoning.
    — ItsOnLikeDK


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About Sam Carchidi
Sam Carchidi is in his fourth year as the Flyers' beat reporter. He became an Inquirer staff writer in 1984 and covered mostly South Jersey high school sports and the Phillies before taking the Flyers beat.

Carchidi has written three books _ the nationally acclaimed Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story, which he co-authored with Scott Brown; Bill Campbell: The Voice of Philadelphia Sports; and Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story, which was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He also contributed to a 1993 Inquirer book on the Phillies.

A lifelong South Jersey resident, Carchidi lives in Wenonah with his wife, JoAnn, and their two children, Sara and Sammy.

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