Inexplicable

As an umpire, I'll be the first to tell you that I've blown a call or two in my time. As you probably are aware, to err is to be human, and I certainly qualify for that status based on the number of times I err per day, let alone while wearing my umpire gear. The good news is that I feel like I've never really blown a call when it matters like a major tournament or a playoff final. Some teams might disagree with me, but I'm pretty aware of the rules and how to interpret them when it comes to the integrity of the game. I can't say the same thing, though, about the final game of the Tier I 14U National Hockey Championship that took place in Chicago, Illinois.

The final featured the hometown Chicago Mission as the visitors against Shattuck St. Mary's who skated as the home team. We'll pick the video highlights up with the teams tied at 2-2 in the third period with 15 minutes remaining in regulation time.

If you're watching that clip closely, you can see Shattuck netminder Harrison Boettiger snag the backhander that Chicago's Cameron McKinney sent towards the net. The referee, though, skates from his position on the goal line towards the net with his arm outstretched, indicating that a goal had been scored. The announcer calls the glove save correctly before changing his call with the referee's decision, so what the heck happened here?

According to the game recap from USA Hockey, there was an explanation that reads,

"It didn't take long for Mission to prove that again today as McKinney barreled down the right wing, cut through the slot and launched a high backhander that Boettiger managed to snag, but the officials ruled the momentum of the shot carried his glove hand over the goal line."

Ok, I'll admit that the angle the camera showed in that highlight package wasn't the greatest by any means, but I didn't see any indication that the goalie reached behind him to pull the puck out of the net nor did I see any indication that the backhander from McKinney had enough power to pull Boettiger's hand and arm past his body and over the goal line. To me, this was a good save by the Shattuck netminder that should have been whistled as a save with the defensive-zone face-off for Shattuck to follow.

Of course, maybe my eyes need to be checked. I could be wrong. Except that this angle posted by Twitter user Joe Gugino (@joseph_gugino) shows entirely how Boettiger's glove never comes close to being near the goal line, let alone having the momentum to carry "his glove hand over the goal line."

You can clearly see via this angle that not only does Boettiger reach out and make the save with his glove, but his glove never remotely comes close to the goal line at any point. His gloved hand remains in front of his body during the entire sequence, yet the official shows zero doubt that a goal had been scored despite two players skating in front of his line of sight. Not only is this a bad call, but it's bad officiating as the referee didn't even confer with the other officials before making his final call despite not having a clear line of sight.

What makes this worse is that the highlight package posted to YouTube misses another key sequence later in the third period when it appeared that Shattuck St. Mary's tied the game at 3-3.

"They appeared to have it in the final minutes as Masun Fleece tapped a loose puck through a goalmouth scramble. The officials originally signaled a goal and then quickly called it off."

Why was it called off? What prompted the other referee - not the one shown above - to change his decision on the ice after signaling that a good goal was scored during a goalmouth scramble? What on earth is happening in this game with the officiating when it comes to determining good goals?

Look, I know officiating is a tough job in any sport, but someone has to step in here and, at the vesy least, correct the improperly-awarded goal shown above due to the officials, who did not confer with one another, being entirely wrong. As for the allowed goal that turned into a disallowed goal for Shattuck, I see no penalties awarded for interference that may have caused the play to be blown dead, so why was that call reversed? There was nothing indicated in the game recap, so why was a good goal overturned at that juncture of the game?

At the end of the day, both of these officials should be reprimanded for what seems to be very poor calls on the ice. I don't expect nor do I want to see them lose their stripes because finding capable officials to call games is already a big request, but this can't be allowed to stand without some kind of acknowledgement that the officials' roles in this game caused the outcome to be determined not by the players. This is embarrassing for everyone involved as Chicago won 3-2 to claim the Tier I 14U National Hockey Championship.

We always hear broadcasters talk about how you want to let the players play to determine the outcome of a game. In this case, they tried as an entertaining game between two very good squads saw the officials decide the outcome with one entirely incorrect call and one very questionable call. If it were me on either bench, I'm quite sure I'd be disappointed in the final score because this game wasn't decided by the players.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!