The NHL Is Now In The Business Of Killing Blues Fans

Apparently an elderly Blues fan blew a gasket after the display of NHL incompetence last night and died of the resulting heart attack late in the game. It's sad to think that among his very last thoughts was about how this league continues to screw over the Blues.

R.I.P.

God, knows I'll be joining you one day and for the same reason; Death by NHL referee.

The Blues and the Post-Dispatch are not pleased.

Jeff Gordon's take: Send in the clowns -- an upgrade over NHL refs

The Blues are working hard to the end. They are busting their tails night after night. They are establishing team pride and integrity during the final weeks of the season.

So it is only fair that they expect the NHL officials to maintain their integrity while working their games -– and to not hand victories to the other side, as they did Tuesday night.

This team has been on the wrong side of poor calls and inexplicable non-calls in recent games, culminating with the fiasco against Ottawa at the Scottrade Center.

NHL referees Mick “Mister” McGeough and Dennis LaRue refused to acknowledge one obvious goal, then waved off a second obvious goal. The first goal would have given the Blues a 3-2 lead and the second would have tied the game 3-3. Advertisement


“It’s a disgrace,” Blues president John Davidson said.

“Unreal,” Blues coach Andy Murray said.

“This should not happen in this day and age,” Blues center Doug Weight said.

On the first goal, er, non-goal, Brad Boyes took a third-period pass from Weight at the left post and jammed the puck toward the empty goal. Senators goaltender Martin Gerber dove back, reached into the goal with his stick and knocked the puck back out.

This was a goal, clear as could be.

But the goal judge didn’t see it. McGeough and LaRue missed it, too. They didn’t ask for a video review. They rushed to restart play. And video review judge Jerry Burt didn’t call down to notify the officials of their blunder until after play had resumed.

Davidson was furious in the press box. Murray was furious on the bench, since he had been notified, before play resumed, that Boyes shot was well into the net. Blues players were baffled on the ice, especially when the review horn sounded while they had control of the puck in the offensive zone.

What was going on here?

“There are 25 cameras,” an exasperated Weight said afterward. “Certain people have certain jobs to do.”

The NHL has gone to great lengths to operate an elaborate replay system. There is a replay judge in the press box. There are observers in a Toronto war room, carefully examining every close goal-mouth call in televised league games.

Blues games have been stopped for an eternity while these observers used the latest video technology to back up, slow down, blow up and digitally enhance replays. I’ve seen goals counted against the Blues when all replays appeared utterly inconclusive to the naked eye.

It is impressive, the lengths the league goes to in examining potential goals.

And yet, the Blues scored an obvious against Ottawa and it doesn’t count because all the officials involved -– on the ice, in the booth, in Toronto -– refused to do their job correctly.

I understand the Senators are fighting for playoff positioning and the Blues are not, but there ought to be some semblance of fairness in the NHL.

Had the referees merely missed the goal, it would be no big deal. That happens all the time, especially with lightly regarded referees like McGeough and LaRue.

(Among the phrases uttered around the Blues dressing room Tuesday night was “clown nose.” But I’m not telling who said it, because that person would get fined.)

That is why the NHL has gone to great lengths to back up the officials. The fact this replay system was simply ignored, to Ottawa’s obvious benefit . . . well, that is shocking.

BUT IT GETS WORSE!

The officials tried to offset their mistake by calling a series of penalties on the Senators, who responded by scoring a go-ahead shorthanded goal. With a bit more than two minutes left to play, Blues power forward David Backes scored the tying goal by jamming home a loose puck in the crease.

McGeough, though, disallowed the goal even through he hadn’t stopped play. He claimed Gerber had covered the puck, which, in reality, never happened.

The referee said he was in the process of blowing his whistle when the puck went into the net. Yeah, like Gerber was “in the process” of covering the puck when Backes scored. Please.

“Why would he blow the whistle?” Murray wondered. “The puck was moving.”

Again, replays were damning. This time there was nothing the review judge or the Toronto war room could do (or not do) to fix the error. The call was McGeough’s to make -- and, in this case, to blow.

The Senators got their two points and the Blues got some bad explanations. Should the franchise demand an apology?

“What does an apology do for us right now?” Murray said.

What the Blues can request, going forward, is an honest effort from the officials in every single game. If they are going to give their best shot during these dog days of the season, it is reasonable to expect the NHL’s on-ice and off-ice officials to do the same.

You hardly ever see such an open condemnation of officiating coming from a major newspaper, but last night's game was so bad it couldn't be ignored. You simply cannot pretend it wasn't happening.

Fire Larue.