PITTSBURGH — OK, so the puck was in Antti Niemi’s mitt and the mitt was in the net, but after an unusually lengthy review, no goal was credited to Mats Zuccarello in the Rangers’ game at San Jose on Jan. 10.
That’s because there was no conclusive replay angle available in which the folks in Toronto actually could see the puck cross the goal line, so the call on the ice could not be overturned even as common sense was.
“The refs’ call was ‘no goal,’ so we have to find conclusively that the whole puck was over the goal line,” Senior VP of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy told The Post in an email exchange. “This was extremely difficult because we couldn’t see where the puck was in Niemi’s glove.
“There are angles that the puck appears to be in, but there are also angles where there is doubt,” Murphy said. “Inconclusive was the result.”
But come the playoffs under that same scenario, Zuccarello almost certainly would be credited with the goal. Maybe even sooner than the postseason. That’s because, Slap Shots has learned, the NHL is working on improving its technology by placing cameras in the goal posts.
“We are testing and experimenting with ‘in-post’ cameras and would like to introduce them when we are comfortable that they are completely functional and workable,” Murphy said. “We are not there yet. When we feel we have it right we will start to put them in nets throughout the league.”
The current plan is to place the cameras halfway up the posts, but, as per Murphy, “The league is testing different distances from the ice level.”
The NHL’s video review on goals at the moment is second only to the system used on the tennis tour as far as accuracy — probably as exact on MLB’s system on home runs. It’s not perfect, but it’s close. Cameras in the goal posts will bring the league closer to perfection … in this one regard, mind you.
But that’s because it involves a fixed and finite definition: completely across the line, or not. I, by the way, have suggested for years the definition of a goal should be changed to the puck touching the goal line, as per football, but apparently there is zero interest in changing the rule that would both eliminate much confusion and increase scoring.
Regardless, the goal/no-goal call is not subjective in the way of review on kicked-in goals or on sticks above the crossbar.
Or the way it would be if goaltender interference ever becomes part of a video review system. I’m not in favor of it. Never have been. The league simply would be replacing the subjective opinion of the referees with the subjective opinion of the league operatives in Toronto.
And just as what appears to be the very same play on a puck that goes in off a skate can, and has been, ruled a goal in one game but a no-goal in another because different people in Toronto are assigned the responsibility on different nights, the same scenario would apply when it comes to goaltender interference.
Football has been subverted by video review. It’s a good idea taken to such an extreme, it’s now bad in practice. Just because the technology exists doesn’t mean we have to use it. It’s kind of like, just because Twitter exists, it doesn’t mean we have to weigh in on every subject in the world.
Does it?
Some missed calls, yes, they would be reversed. But others wouldn’t. And then the postgame focus would shift to analysis of the subjective review that in and of itself would be an analysis of a subjective decision on the ice.
But where it comes to pucks in or not in, we all should be able to agree. And cameras in the posts should bring the NHL closer to perfection on that objective verdict.
Most impressive stat regarding the impressive Islanders: fewest shots per game allowed at 26.8 per through Friday, just a tick ahead of Detroit’s and Tampa Bay’s 26.9.
And if you want a team that’s four lines deep, it’s the team from Long Island that is about to make the one-way commute to Brooklyn.
Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck comprise the fourth line that outplayed the Rangers’ first line at the Garden last Tuesday. That wasn’t a one-off for that unit, either.
OK, coach of the year: Jack Capuano of the Islanders, Paul Maurice of the Jets or Peter Laviolette of the Predators?
Or perhaps Barry Trotz of the Capitals, under whose rule Alexander Ovechkin has become a no-drama zone?
Last year, the Rangers featured three scoring lines and a defined fourth unit. This year, they have two scoring lines and six other forwards whose roles lack definition.
Sometimes having an interchangeable flock of forwards can be a blessing. Other times, not so much.
So, slightly more than halfway through the season and either six (Senators, Flyers, Devils, Blue Jackets, Hurricanes, Sabres) or seven (add the Maple Leafs) of the East’s 16 teams essentially have been eliminated from the playoffs.
This would not happen if there were a hard cap in place.
It never has been a thing in hockey, but if this is it for Martin Brodeur, perhaps he could sign a one-day contract with New Jersey and retire as a Devil, which is the way it should be.
In the corridor outside the Bruins’ room in Boston hangs a picture of Jean Ratelle, No. 10 wearing the spoked B.
Sorry, but that’s just wrong.
On so many levels, that’s just wrong.