Most Controversial Calls and Plays in Blue Jacket History

[Nanabijou]

Let's face it; compared to other teams, Jackets fans don't have much material for countdown lists of memorable winning seasons or playoff victories. However, we have a pretty good list of wacky ref calls, war room debacles, and time-keeper errors. Here's a list of some of the most controversial calls and plays in Blue Jacket history.

If you vote for 'Other' please link an article or a video showing the play that was missed.

Every team has some bad calls against it from time to time. Maybe I have a selective 'homer' memory, but I just don't remember any outrageous calls that the Jackets were the beneficiary of. I'm sure they are out there but I can't think of one that matches what is on the list below. If you are a fan of another team and remember a crazy call that went in the Jackets favor, please post it in this thread as well.

This isn't meant to be a whining rant or another 'woe is the Jackets' thread. However, we might as well embrace with a laugh the weird controversies the Jackets seem to be associated with, and hopefully this will help to exorcise some of the bad karma.


2013 - Phantom Incidental Contact; vs. Blackhawks
Despite what looks like a pretty typical screen, Nick Foligno gets called for incidental contact resulting in an annulled goal. This goal would have tied the game 2-2. Jackets end up losing 3-2.




2012 - Clock-gate; vs. Kings
Kings get a game-winning goal just before the buzzer sounds. Upon review, the clock clearly stops at 1.8 s for a good second. Without the delay, the goal would have occurred after the buzzer. Although not well publicized, the official finding released in July suggested that it was 'human error', but it's never been made clear whether dishonest intent was involved.

Also, see http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...s-malfunction-human-error-153357919--nhl.html





2011 - Goaltender Interference on Dorsett; vs. Bruins
Dorsett breaks in on Tim Thomas on an angle and tries to deke to the far side. Thomas sticks out his leg which catches Dorsett, causing him to land awkwardly on his ankle and get hurt in the process. Dorsett gets 2 minutes for goalie interference, a call that even Jack Edwards finds incredulous.





2009 - Playoffs and Too Many Men; vs. Red Wings
Jackets, in their first playoff games, fight back in Game 4 and it's tied at 5 near the end of the third. On a sloppy change, Jackets get called for 'too many men' with about 2 min left. Red Wings score on the power play and the Jackets are eliminated. While the call would be debatable in a regular game, it seemed to be the type of call that shouldn't be called in the final minutes of a tied playoff game when (as Hitchcock later says) 'Hudson Bay rules' are expected to be in effect.





2008 - Kicking Motion for Malhotra; vs. Stars
Manny Malhotra scores what's thought to be the overtime winner when he drives to the net and the puck banks off his skate (or Turco's stick) and in. The war room decides there is sufficient evidence of a kicking motion and over-rules the on-ice call. The Jackets end up losing the game.





2007 - Two Goals Scored on a Single Jackets Minor Penalty; vs. Sharks
Malhotra gets a penalty at the same time as the Sharks' Clowe. Klesla gets a penalty 33 sec later. The Sharks score on the powerplay and then remain on a power play when they don't release Klesla. With the mix-up, the Sharks get a second power-play goal on basically one Klesla minor penalty.

No youtube, but here's a recap of the situation, along with Hitch's and MacLean's reactions:
http://sharkspage.com/2007_01_01_archive_history.html#116819488793904960



2006 - Wes Walz Pants; vs. Wild
In OT, the puck lodges in Walz's pants and he ends up in the net. The ref reports (see article below) that he was going to call a penalty and blew the whistle because he could not see the puck. The war room rules that even though the puck could not be seen, because 1) the puck was later found in Walz's pants; 2) Walz's pants were in the net; 3) ergo, the puck was in the net.

No youtube that I could find, but here is the ESPN article describing the situation:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=261229030

Click to read more...

 

[1857 Howitzer]

Many may not remember this one, but it still fuels my hate for the Wings.

4/4/03 http://espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=230404029 Brendan Shanahan faking an injury causing one of the refs to blow the play dead a second before the puck crossed the goal line for what would have been the game sealing EN goal. The faceoff was moved to the Jackets end, the Wings score the tying goal and the game ends in a tie.

Edit the game ended in a tie not a Wings win. My memory is failing.

 

[Nanabijou]

Many may not remember this one, but it still fuels my hate for the Wings.

4/4/03 http://espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=230404029 Brendan Shanahan faking an injury causing the one of the refs to blow the play dead a second before the puck crossing the goal line for game sealing EN goal. The faceoff is moved to the Jackets end and the Wings score the tying goal off of it. Wings win the game in overtime.

Good one, I meant to add this from your post in the other thread and forgot to add it at the end.

 

[1857 Howitzer]

Wes Walz pants has to be the most controversial, but the Too Many Men hurts the most to this day.

 

[Fro]

but the too many men was the correct call...just sucked...

 

[1857 Howitzer]

but the too many men was the correct call...just sucked...

Given the time and place that call should have never been made and had it been reversed it would not have been.

 

[Nanabijou]

Given the time and place that call should have never been made and had it been reversed it would not have been.

Agreed. I have to think that, 99.9% of the time, refs are not going to call that in the final minutes of a playoff game that is tied. What made it even worse, it was the linesman who called it rather than the ref.

I voted for the 'too many men' call because of the circumstances. It's impact on Blue Jacket history thus far ups its 'controversy' value.

 

[1857 Howitzer]

Agreed. I have to think that, 99.9% of the time, refs are not going to call that in the final minutes of a playoff game that is tied. What made it even worse, it was the linesman who called it rather than the ref.

I voted for the 'too many men' call because of the circumstances. It's impact on Blue Jacket history thus far ups its 'controversy' value.

The ****** Linesman has been under my username since that game. They are the most useless garbage in sports.

 

[bizzz*]

Zherdev's 1st NHL goal against Nashville that was called off cause the net was moving also was a bad call.

 

[FANonymous]

I seem to recall an eventual game winning goal back-heeled into our net by Bertuzzi? [I know it was against the Red Wings]

I can't remember what year it happened but it was definitely after the Malholtra 1-legged kicking motion debacle, because I was absolutely stunned that the refs thought a one-legged man could make a kicking motion but an obvious back-heel was perfectly legal.

Edit: Found it, it was a game tying goal.



And of course the Detroit Homer squad announcers sucking off the refs after that call. Grrrrrr.

 

[ClevelandJacketFan]

Despite being the worst team in the NHL, the clock freezing and the Kings getting away with it is right up there.

I openly admit to not knowing about the pants story, and really, it would be hard for me to find the outrage. So I went with what I know.

 

[Hugg]

Many may not remember this one, but it still fuels my hate for the Wings.

4/4/03 http://espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=230404029 Brendan Shanahan faking an injury causing one of the refs to blow the play dead a second before the puck crossed the goal line for what would have been the game sealing EN goal. The faceoff was moved to the Jackets end, the Wings score the tying goal and the game ends in a tie.

Edit the game ended in a tie not a Wings win. My memory is failing.

I remember this like it was yesterday. I was at that game and, at the time, we had only beaten Detroit at home once in our history.

Walz pants still is the worst for me though.


The too many men on the ice penalty sucked, but it's a perfect example of why I think the refs should be calling all 60 minutes of every game the same. When you loosen the rules in key moments, then it causes outrage when you actually make a correct call.

 

[Hello Johnny]

Many may not remember this one, but it still fuels my hate for the Wings.

4/4/03 http://espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=230404029 Brendan Shanahan faking an injury causing one of the refs to blow the play dead a second before the puck crossed the goal line for what would have been the game sealing EN goal. The faceoff was moved to the Jackets end, the Wings score the tying goal and the game ends in a tie.

Edit the game ended in a tie not a Wings win. My memory is failing.

Oh man I forgot about that one, I was there when it happened.

Wes Walz's goal has to be right next to the Winnipeg-Chicago game from way back when (a Winnipeg player catches the puck in his hand and tosses it at the net, and it doesn't even cross the line!) as the most phantom goals of all time. I mean hell, if WW's goal counts, who's to say players can't just flip the puck into their pants and dive into the goal?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Malhotra's kicking motion cost us a date wit hthe Canucks and not the Wings, that one in my books.

 

[Hello Johnny]

Zherdev's 1st NHL goal against Nashville that was called off cause the net was moving also was a bad call.

Damn I remember that one too. I was so stoked to see Z play after the whole fiasco he went through to get over here, and in his first game he gets a goal taken away because a Pred is cross-checking the net off? I was so livid. Haven't ever been able to find a youtube of that.

 

[joshjoshjosh]

2006 - Wes Walz Pants; vs. Wild
In OT, the puck lodges in Walz's pants and he ends up in the net. The ref reports (see article below) that he was going to call a penalty and blew the whistle because he could not see the puck. The war room rules that even though the puck could not be seen, because 1) the puck was later found in Walz's pants; 2) Walz's pants were in the net; 3) ergo, the puck was in the net.

No youtube that I could find, but here is the ESPN article describing the situation:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=261229030

I find the flip side equally infuriating

Goalie catches puck. Goalie has entire glove in net. LETS GO TO REVIEW! Sorry folks, even though the puck is in his glove and his entire glove is in the net...

...and even though the puck would have had to briefly slipped into another dimension to have NOT crossed the goal line...

we can't see the puck so NO GOAL

 

[Columbus Mike]

The clock gate goal gets my vote. The only reason the clock stopped was because the timer stopped it. Then I get the high-tech lie from the Kings GM, and the league goes along with it. It's about as close to cheating from a team/league official as you can get, and nobody seemed to really have a problem with it.

 

[CBJSprague24]

One write-in, inspired by last night's MIN/STL game:

October 2008 vs. Minnesota. CBJ down one late, Nash scores the tying goal. It's called a goal on ice, but reviewed for a high stick. By all accounts, it's going to stand...until two of the three other officials overrule the first ref and disallow the goal, much to the Minnesota announcers' and Jacques Lemaire's (Yeah, the coach who benefited) shock and surprise.

I had another one in mind, but it's early and I didn't sleep well...if I think of it, I'll post it.

 

[BluejacketNut]

The too many men is tops on my list for it was a playoff game. It should not have been called with the swallowing of the whistle for all the other penalties that went uncalled. Had they called everything else they let go, then yes, but it had no effect on the play

 

[Nanabijou]

One write-in, inspired by last night's MIN/STL game:

October 2008 vs. Minnesota. CBJ down one late, Nash scores the tying goal. It's called a goal on ice, but reviewed for a high stick. By all accounts, it's going to stand...until two of the three other officials overrule the first ref and disallow the goal, much to the Minnesota announcers' and Jacques Lemaire's (Yeah, the coach who benefited) shock and surprise.

I had another one in mind, but it's early and I didn't sleep well...if I think of it, I'll post it.

Another good one. I was actually going to add this one to the list, but I couldn't find a video of the play. This was a particularly bad call, but I think the war room has not had a good record league-wide with high-stick deflections when the player is in the high slot.

 

[Skraut]

do we really have nothing else better to do than to pick open our scabs?

 

[Dr. Fire]

I find the flip side equally infuriating

Goalie catches puck. Goalie has entire glove in net. LETS GO TO REVIEW! Sorry folks, even though the puck is in his glove and his entire glove is in the net...

...and even though the puck would have had to briefly slipped into another dimension to have NOT crossed the goal line...

we can't see the puck so NO GOAL

I believe that something like this happened to the Jackets the same season as the pants good goal. I think that it was Turco in net. The puck was underneath him and he slid into the net. A couple of his teammates then pulled him from the net. It was reviewed and ruled a no-goal because they could not see the puck, even though he was clearly in the net with the puck underneath him. Made the Walz goal even more painful.

Also, hard to tell on this video, but at the time the slow motion replay showed the net clearly off of it's moorings by 4-6 inches when the puck crossed the line. Gave the Devils a 2-1 victory.

 

[JacketFanInFL]

Great thread idea!

I voted the LA clock stopping. If it weren't Columbus, that would have blown up and something may have actually been done. That one was an outright fraud.

The rest were "Well it's the Jackets, let's screw em over" calls.

 

[JACKETfan]

While others were more flagrant, none meant as much as the "too many men call" during a tied playoff game.

 

[GoJackets1]

I voted for Malhotra's goal, only because if we had that extra point we should have gotten, we wouldn't have played the Wings in the first round.

How does one kick the puck in while balancing on one skate? :