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| A bump by Max Martin (#10) into goalie Brody Willms created debate. |
With the dust settled, referees Jeff Ingram and Colin Watt
along with linesmen Tarrington Wyonzek and Ethan Cronkhite should receive high
marks for how they handled the no goal situation involving a disallowed tally
by Prince Albert Raiders right-winger Cole Fonstad on Wednesday night.
For a quick review, the Raiders were hosting the Moose Jaw
Warriors in Game 4 of a best-of-seven WHL first round series before 2,827
spectators at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. With the Warriors holding
a 1-0 lead, Raiders captain Curtis Miske broke down the right wing and fired a
shot on Warriors netminder Brody Willms.
The shot rebounded long off Willms to the left side of the Moose
Jaw goal. Fonstad pounced on the loose puck and fired home what appeared to be
the equalizer to tie things up a 1-1 at the 10:24 mark of the frame. The
official behind the net immediately waved the goal off.
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| Cole Fonstad saw his Game 4 be disallowed. |
After a long conference at the penalty box area, Fonstad’s
goal was disallowed as it was ruled Raiders defenceman Max Martin made
incidental contact with Willms.
The Warriors later scored into an empty net with 15.6
seconds remaining in the third to seal a 2-0 victory and take a 3-1 lead in the
series. They will try to close out the set tonight at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in
Moose Jaw.
In the aftermath of Game 4, the big controversy surrounded
the fact that Fonstad’s third period goal was disallowed.
The officials handled the situation properly. The referee
behind the net emphatically made a signal that the goal was no good.
With the play brought to a stop, the officials had a
conference to go over what happened. As the call to take away the goal was an
incidental contact call on Martin, the officials by rule weren’t able to use
the assistance of replay in that situation, so unless another official on the
ice can definitively say the call should be overturned, the original call has
to stand.
In viewing the replay, Martin’s contact with Willms happened
outside the crease, but Willms still had his right foot just barely in the blue
paint of the crease. In WHL games I have seen this season, the trend has been
for officials to call no goal due to incidental contact in those situations, so
the officials stayed consistent with how that situation had been called all
season.
On the replays, it looked like Warriors Russian import
defenceman Dmitri Zaitsev was trying to force Martin away from the Moose Jaw
goal and ended up guided the Raiders rearguard into Willms. Under that
situation, Fonstad’s goal should count.
 |
| Goalie Brody Willms was bumped in Game 4. |
In seeing the play develop once at full speed, it is
uncertain how much of Zaitsev’s actions the officials saw, and if they did see
them, it is possible they could rule there was enough time for Martin to
recover and avoid the goalie.
It should be noted Martin tapped into Willms, so the contact
wasn’t malicious by any means.
Having seen the play live and checked out available replays,
that call could have gone either way by being ruled no goal or a goal. I am
fine with whatever way the officials called it.
It was a tough hockey call.
Unfortunately for the Raiders and their supporters, the
tough call went against their team.
To the Raiders credit, they didn’t allow that call to
deflate them. Over the final 9:36 of the third, they played hard and created
good scoring chances but couldn’t find the equalizer.
The hard pill to swallow on the Raiders side was that they
likely deserved a better result in that game and likely deserve better than to
be down 3-1 in that series.
The Raiders handled the post-game scrums well. Head coach
Marc Habscheid and Martin said they disagreed with the officials’ judgment on
the no goal. Habscheid express concerns about critical breaks with calls that
didn’t go his club’s way in each of the previous two games.
The comments were made in a respectable fashion and were
honest.
 |
| Defenceman Max Martin was on the unfortunate wrong end of a tough call. |
The Warriors had to be credited with how well they handled
the post-game media scrums as well. Moose Jaw head coach Tim Hunter said it was
a disallowed goal, and with how fast the officials made their initial call,
that was all Hunter really needed to say.
Willms said the contact impeded him from getting across the
crease, and he gave an honest answer.
Overall, Moose Jaw has to be credited with finding a way to
get a 3-1 edge in the series.
The media present at that contest handled the whole
situation surrounding Fonstad’s disallowed goal well.
The Raiders fans that disagreed with the call showed their
disagreement in a respectable fashion on social media after the game. They unleashed
loud boos when the call was made in the third period, but no one did anything
over the line crazy. The Raiders fans handled things well.
 |
| The Warriors are in position to win their playoff series with the Raiders. |
At the NHL level, there has been talk of dissatisfaction with
how the whole concept of goalie interference has been dealt with this season.
It is highly likely the whole rule will be revisited and
debated at various league meetings in the NHL and WHL in the off-season.
For now, the call to disallow Fonstad’s goal was just a
tough call.
It was nice to see all parties including the officials, the
Raiders, the Warriors, the media and the fans treat that situation
respectfully.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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