We Can Blame The Refs, But The Wings Should Blame Themselves

By Adam W Parks

You may not recognize the names Kevin Pollock and Brad Watson, but you probably wanted to fight them yesterday.



I do not condone such violence against the whistle-blowers, but when they take over a good hockey game like Pollock and Watson did in San Jose on Sunday, I feel helplessly frustrated and angry enough to wish bodily harm against them.

If there was ever a rule in the hockey book of law that is as necessary as it is abusable, it's goaltending interference (go ask a Washington Capitols fan). Think about it for a minute: how often does a referee actually get this call correct? Goalies get touched or slightly bumped and they fall down, and refs love to call it. Yet when was the last time you saw a diving call on a guy in pads? And get this--if the puck goes in the net and there is incidental contact, they wave the goal and do not call a penalty. Apparently when there is incidental contact and the puck does not cross the goal line, it's an automatic penalty.

Three times this penalty was called on Sunday (twice against Detroit) and each time it was a load of horse poop. The call against Todd Bertuzzi in the second period was as ludicrous as the one called against Dany Heatley late in the third. Two entirely different plays, two entirely different ways that the penalty was called, and both incidents were entirely blown by the refs.

Crap! I'm still mad about it!

But as much as I'd like to, all the blame for the Wings' loss cannot simply be thrown at the zebras. Did Pollock and Watson tilt the man-advantage scales in favor of the Sharks? Absolutely. Did they make several awful calls throughout the game? Absolutely. Did the Red Wings blow a great opportunity to tie up the series by playing undisciplined and irresponsible hockey? Absolutely.

“No sense questioning anything,” Mike Babcock said. “We’re in charge, we have to look after it. We can’t be going to the box. We got to look after our own sticks and our own play.”

The Sharks had ten power play chances; the Red Wings only got four. Detroit is one of the least penalized teams in the league but they were whistled five times in the third period, four consecutively, and twice in the last four minutes of the game. It didn't take John Edward to see that San Jose was going to win that game. The Wings were playing great in the second period, controlling the puck and creating opportunities, but they lost all that momentum by shooting themselves in the skates with those penalties in the third.

Yes the whistles were quick against Detroit, but the Wings were also giving the stupid idiot refs plenty of reasons to blow. Playoff hockey should be played, not policed, but calls like slashing (Jimmy Howard, Dan Cleary), cross checking (Pavel Datsyuk), hooking (Niklas Kronwall), tripping (Valtteri Filppula), and too many men on the ice are obvious ones and must be made. The refs need to let them play, but the Wings need to play smart.

Smart like not tripping a guy when you are about to get the puck and begin a break out of your own zone when you are down a goal with four minutes left in the game. Filpp's penalty was not smart, but Kronner's penalty was dumb...just really really dumb. Early in the third, with the Wings clinging to a one goal lead, Bertuzzi pushed Marc-Edouard Vlasic but was somehow called for holding (bad refs), and on the ensuing penalty kill Kronwall hooked down Joe Pavelski to give the Sharks a five-on-three power play for over a minute (bad Wings). You can't do that! You cannot put your team in that situation! Not in the playoffs, not against San Jose!

Did Pavelski dive? It doesn't matter! Don't dig your stick into the ribs of the guy who is getting all the calls, bounces, and goals to go his way! Just don't do it! And of course it was Pavelski who scored the game-tying goal, his second of the game, fourth of the series, and ninth of the playoffs.

Dear Mr. Kronwall,

If you're going to take a lazy, stupid penalty against Joe Pavelski and put your team in a difficult position, please make it count, make it hurt, maybe knock him out for a few shifts so he can't tie the game a minute later.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Adam W Parks

PS. It is apparent that these two teams are equal in almost every aspect of the game, so special teams play is essential for momentum, confidence, and flow. Opportunities on the power play must be taken advantage of, and opportunities given must be limited to a minimum. The Wings played well enough to win on Sunday, and their penalty killing was actually pretty good with all things reconsidered, but they failed by putting themselves in too many tough spots.

Babcock: “Our players felt frustrated. There’s no sense being frustrated. You can’t go to the box. It’s simple. Half the players don’t even get on the ice, sitting in the penalty box all night long. It’s pretty hard to have rhythm, pretty hard to get everyone going.”

If the Wings do not play cleaner and smarter in these next two games at home in Detroit, the Sharks will just cruise around the ice sniffing for the scent of a bloody penalty and keep on attacking with their power play...and Detroit will be lucky to stretch this thing past five games.

Peace