A lot of men? The Stanley Cup Final got a dose of controversy due to a contested Avalanche OT goal

TAMPA, FL – If it was an illegal streak change, it wasn’t the first team to get away with in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In fact, many will remember that a file Tampa Bay Lightning Themselves got away with one last year.

But emotional Lightning coach John Cooper made Wednesday night’s perhaps unanswered call a focal point after it came at his most crucial moment – in overtime to help Colorado Avalanche Win 3-2 and take a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final – saying that his team “must play” rather than digest a devastating loss that severely affected his hopes of winning by three strokes.

Nazim Qadri Dramatically capped his precipitous return from thumb surgery in the contested play, to float past the beauty Andrei Vasilevsky After 12 minutes, two seconds of overtime, at the end of an 11-second rosy, Cooper should have signaled that the avalanche had beeped for him, with too many men on the ice.

The five skaters allowed were on the ice when Kadri scored, but replays show the Avs benefited, at the very least, from a generous, possibly illegal cap change.

Nazim Qadri scores the biggest goal of his career pic.twitter.com/58eKHjWEZs

– Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) June 23, 2022

My fate had been on the ice for four seconds and had the disc along the blue line by the time the guy changed it for it – out of work Nathan McKinnon – I finally got to the bench. On the replay, Kadri thought he was changing for him Valery Neshushkin, who ended up staying on the ice and participating in the play. McKinnon was still on the ice on the bench along the Blue Line when Kadri skated into the puck attack zone.

A fateful avalanche goal put together one win of his third Stanley Cup title and first since 2001, with Game 5 in Denver on Friday night.

“You’ll see what I mean when you see the winning goal. My heart breaks for the players because maybe we still have to play.”

John Cooper received only one question after the game, and he was clearly not happy with the Avalanche’s overtime winning goal. pic.twitter.com/g6DAwp475i

Sportsnet June 23, 2022

“I love this league,” Cooper said in his subconscious soliloquy, and said he would eventually break before he left the podium. “It’s the greatest league in the world. The people who run it are amazing. It’s all about her. It’s like a dream come true for me, especially being a Canadian kid, growing up and everything that happens. … You know, I’ve been part of some heartbreaking losses and defeats for teams that She took us out and was with a group that just fights and fights and fights.They made their way to their third straight Stanley Cup Final.And in the era of the hat…when it’s really hard and the rules are set against you because the league wants parity.

“And I love it about the league. That’s what makes it more difficult. And just watch this team, what they’ve been through and the fighting that’s been going on. And we’re all in this together: players, coaches, everyone. But that would hurt a lot more than the others, just because it was taking.. It was probably… I don’t know. That’s hard for me. It’s going to be hard for me to talk. I’m going to have to talk…. You’ll see what I mean when you see the winning goal. And my heart breaks for the players. Because maybe we still have to play. I’ll be Available (Thursday).”

This is the most mischievous shot I’ve seen so far.

With Nazim Qadri (the winning goal scorer) on the ice, it takes McKinnon over 5 seconds to get back on the bench and is clearly more than 5 feet away. pic.twitter.com/9ede4C6ZCU

– KaileyMizelle (@KaileyMizelle) June 23, 2022

The NHL He was aware of the controversy after the match and spoke to the four officials on the ice. Any of the four is allowed to make the call. In a statement submitted to the athlete“Punishing so many men on the ice is an invitation to judgment,” the league said.

“After the match, the hockey operations met with the four referees as is their usual protocol,” the league said. “While discussing the winning goal, each of the four officials advised that they had not seen the condition of many of the men on the ice in the play. This call is not subject to video review by either Hockey Ops or on-ice officials.”

According to the NHL rulebook, players can be changed at any time during play, provided they are within five feet of the bench and not in play when the change is made. “At the discretion of the snowboard officials, if a substitute player appears on the ice before a teammate is within five feet of the players’ bench (and thus clearly causing his team to have too many players), then a minor penalty may be assessed. When he withdraws The player is off the ice surface and is within five feet of the players’ bench and their swing is on the ice, the retired player will be considered off ice.If during the making of the substitution, either the player entering the game or the retired player is playing a puck or who checks or Makes any physical contact with an opposing player while both players involved in the substitution are on the ice, the offense will be called “Lots of Men on Ice.”

Two former NHL referees have been contacted the athlete Those who examined the video said that in their opinion, this play was not many men. A former line aide said that while close, precarious changes happen all the time, and very few officials spoiled a play like this in overtime. He also noted that Lightning had seven players on the ice, including two on the bench, like MacKinnon, with the players involved as well.

To add to the post-game confusion, the initial match sheet had six avalanche skaters on ice to score the winning goal, the sixth being defense. Eric Johnson. However, replays show that it was actually an honest mistake and coincidence as Johnson was never on the ice before or during the winning goal.

Ironically, another postseason, lightning Ondrej Balat Score in Game 2 of the Playoff Series in Tampa Bay vs. New York Islanders With seven players in play. Officials erred and the goal calculated.

Lightning had a lot of men in the green light’s crosshairs. Barry Trotz after seeing the replay: “Seven kings men. There are seven men on the ice. In the f**king’s goal. He’s right there.” pic.twitter.com/CsLyoNq9c6

– Brady Tretnero (@BradyTrett) June 16, 2021

While the end of Game 4 on Wednesday was controversial, the truth is that Avalanche racked up two deficits with one goal, on goals for McKinnon and Andrew CoglianoThe team was much better in overtime. They beat Tampa Bay 10-3 in overtime, and that doesn’t include a successful run Arturi Laconin And hit the crossbar with it Bowen Byram.

“I’m not quite sure what he’s thinking, and why it shouldn’t be counted,” Kadri said when told of Cooper’s comments. “That kind of confuses me a bit. The disc hit the back of Grid, end of the story. I’m not sure why he said that.”

In fact, there were far more egregious situations from the guys that the teams got away with. And it’s not like my destiny scored a break-up. Skate in the Lightning District in One on Three.

Regardless, Lightning would have been better off forgetting that speed and putting the shady nature of Game 4’s ending behind them, because Cooper was behaving like the series ended on Wednesday.

If they don’t, the series will end on Friday and the Avs will raise the Lord Stanley Cup.

(Photo: Jeff Burke/USA Today)