@Young:
LHoffman,
I know that this sounds completely bias, but the calls in overtime were completely fair. Canada got the first penalty for body checking at the side of the net, that was a good call. Wicker was on a clear breakaway when she was pulled down, that was a good call (although it should have been called interference, not crosschecking). Also, if we are talking about bad calls, how does Wicker not get awarded a penalty shot there? I think we can all agree that she had a clear breakaway, and even if she was skating slow, she still would have reached the net all alone. As for the controversial slashing call… the Americans were warned repeatedly through out the game to stop slapping the goalie after the whistle. This type of behavior was obviously promoted and encouraged by the coaching staff and I blame them for that, I think the ref should be commented for having the balls to follow up on a call after all the warnings, even in overtime. This particular call reminds me a lot of the woman’s soccer game between Canada and the US during the summer olympics, where the Canadian goalie was warned not to hold on to the ball for so long, and she was later called for a penalty… which lead to an American goal that cost Canada the game. The truth is the US had many opportunities to win the gold medal from being up 2-0 with only 3 minutes left, from hitting the post on an empty net after the ref interfered with the Canadian defenseperson (imagine that controversy if the puck went in?), to getting the first powerplay in overtime. The refs were not the factor in this game, at least not to the capacity of Vancouver when the Canadian girls were called for 13 penalties, 9 in a row, but they still won gold… that game was disgusting.
Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the entire game, and I only saw the third period and overtime, so I was unaware of any clamping down that the referees were making based on earlier happenings. So, if that is the case then I stand corrected. Also, watching ZERO women’s hockey this olympics, I am looking at the game from a men’s/NHL perspective, which is not beneficial.
I think the body-check call on Canada was completely warranted based on the rules (which for the record I think are rather dumb for women’s hockey).
The breakaway should have been called differently, it also should have been a penalty shot. I actually would have been much more okay with that. Calling it a cross-check just irked me because it was wrong on two levels and made the ref appear incompetent.
All in all, the US women lost this game for themselves. It was not the officiating and it wasn’t Canada’s “fault”. Granted, the Canadian women played ferociously for those last 3 minutes in the 3rd and capitalized on a perfect opportunity in overtime. The Americans had it all sewn up but could not hold on. Too bad… but in losses like that I have a hard time feeling sorry for them. They blew it.
But overall you are right YG. Thanks for the explanation.
