Good stuff.

Go Wings!

Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 05/14/09 at 08:57 PM ET

Wow, what a nail biter that was!

Posted by drimo from Cincinnati, OH on 05/14/09 at 08:58 PM ET

Loved the intensity from both teams. But the NHL should be embarrassed by the officiating. The two Getzlaf penalties were horrid, the one on Hudler was obscene and the two non-calls on Pronger were just plain incompetence. Is this the best the NHL can provide?

Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 05/14/09 at 08:58 PM ET

Ron & Don on HNIC after the game questioned if it was goalie interference on Cleary, knocking Hiller’s pad to push the puck in the goal.

I bet you they conveniently ignored the gaolie interference penalty on Hudler that led to the 2nd Ducks goal though… you know, the one where Hudler was SLAMMED form behind and into Hiller.

Yeah.  Pretty sure they “forgot” that one.

Whatever.  Even with all the friggin’ help in the world from the refs this series (phantom penalties, perfectly good goals wiped out for the Wings, elbows and illegal hits ignored by refs and the league), the Whiny Ducks are *still* are going home.

Posted by Primis on 05/14/09 at 09:10 PM ET

I agree. It probably should not have counted. But pretty much everything was legal this series. So it doesn’t hurt my feelings in the least.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 05/14/09 at 09:13 PM ET

I could see interference if Hiller had the puck under his pad, but it was behind him and Cleary was going for the puck.

What else was he supposed to do?

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 05/14/09 at 09:18 PM ET

Is this the best the NHL can provide?

Unfortunately, I appears so.  Every team in the playoffs has gotten hosed at some point, and more than once.  The inconsistency is the worst part.  I wonder if it wouldn’t be improved if the same officials worked an entire series.  At least both teams would get used to the idiosyncracies after a game or two.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/14/09 at 09:31 PM ET

I wonder if it wouldn’t be improved if the same officials worked an entire series.  At least both teams would get used to the idiosyncracies after a game or two.

That is actually not a bad idea. I don’t know how the assignments are done, but having the same officials for one series would, in theory, cut down on the inconsistencies and be cost effective for the league. Although, the down side to that would be for a series to be defined by one bad official.

Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 05/14/09 at 09:48 PM ET

The officiating has gotten worse every season since the lockout. It’s time to make changes. I, for one, don’t think the issue is the refs on an individual basis necessarily, I think the league and Stephen Walkom need to insist that the RULES are the RULES and they MUST be called. Period. Take away the interpretation crap.

They need to get rid of the tick-tack calls for a little stick up on the hands and finishing checks, and start calling the clear penalties like roughing, scrums between whistles, and cross-checking.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 05/14/09 at 09:49 PM ET

I also wonder how much support the officials get from their superiors - if they see a game where one team commits twice as many penalties as the other, do they feel confident enough to call 8 penalties on one team and 4 on the other, and are they able to ignore the whining from the party who feels he was wronged because they know they will get support, or do they feel as though they have to make the calls more even (although that may not reflect the reality of the game they see) because they feel as though they won’t be backed up?

I’m sure none of the officials want to do a poor job, but they need a clear and consistent message to follow and the security of knowing that they will be backed up if they make calls that are correct, but unpopular.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/14/09 at 09:59 PM ET

Being a ref is insanely difficult, the speed of the game alone dictates that. There are no multiple-angle replays to watch before making a call, and you never can see anything clearly every time. Hell, even when you do get things right, you’re wrong in the eyes of half of the audience.

If anything is consistent year after year, it is the inconsistency. The calls have not become worse, they are just fresher in the memory.

Re: the Cleary goal… A loose puck should always negate the “pushing the pads” rule, and that puck was loose.

Posted by JAMESinMI on 05/14/09 at 10:25 PM ET

Re: the Cleary goal… A loose puck should always negate the “pushing the pads” rule, and that puck was loose.

Agree. Besides, we see this type of goal in the regular season without too much fuss.

And really, the officiating was bad all around in so many instances. Their mistakes usually even out in the end. Some breaks go one way, some go the other. At least it wasn’t a snoozefest like the Pens/Caps game.

Posted by Mike Chen on 05/15/09 at 01:21 AM ET

And if Ducks fans want to vent their anger on something, it should be Pronger going out of position on the play rather than the officiating. The first thing I thought when I saw him do that was “What the hell is he doing?”

Posted by Mike Chen on 05/15/09 at 01:32 AM ET

Good goal as far as I can tell…Man…perry was playing like crap all game; getzlaf looked like he wanted to pull a surovy on him. 

The Wings, however, shouldn’t underestimate the Hawks, they are scrappy as hell; and 75% luongo is 100% better than osgood.

Posted by stoneman from Vegas on 05/15/09 at 03:35 AM ET

hey stoneman, that was a quick trade there, lol, luongo in chicago!

Posted by down 1 and out from Switzerland on 05/15/09 at 04:42 AM ET

hey stoneman, that was a quick trade there, lol, luongo in chicago!

Posted by down 1 and out from Switzerland on 05/15/09 at 05:42 AM ET

The Vancouver media is extremely powerful. 

I think he’s making a comment about how since the Blackhawks beat a better goalie than Osgood in six games, the Wings are in for a fight (which they are regardless of goaltenders - even in years when Chicago was horrible, they always played Detroit well).

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/15/09 at 06:09 AM ET

Baroque, I guessed so, but it was just a great comment and I couldn’t resist the “luongo in chicago”

Posted by down 1 and out from Switzerland on 05/15/09 at 06:38 AM ET

I know it’s difficult to ref, I just think they are being incorrectly directed. Having your stick parallel to the ice isn’t always a penalty—usually, it isn’t—but that’s what they’re being told to call.

It’s at the top what’s wrong, IMO. Clearer rules need to be set, via meetings with the league, GMs, and Competition Committee. And then the expectation should be that the game should, without question, be called according to those rules, playoffs or preseason, regardless of the situation. A punch to the face in game seven is as much a penalty as a punch to the face in game one of the regular season.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 05/15/09 at 07:32 AM ET