# NHL: November 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 4, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243 "2009-11-04T02:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/41 "2009-11-15T23:52:03Z")
Canes win! Canes win! Canes win!šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/42 "2009-11-17T23:40:52Z")
Hereā€™s hoping the good Price shows up tonight. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/43 "2009-11-18T01:37:09Z")
Not enough shots on goal happening, so this will be bad Price, I fear. I do hope he proves me wrong! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/44 "2009-11-18T03:31:27Z")
And he doesā€¦! Shoot out Price is one cocky son of a bitch, though. That glove save off the end of the stick was awesome! Once again, though, if the rest of the team could figure out how to scoreā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/45 "2009-11-18T03:42:22Z")
Habs D gives up an average of 32 shots a game in front of Price, compared to 27 in front of Halak. I know; small sample caveats apply, and that ridiculous 55 shots against debacle against Nashville skews the numbers a little. Still, even without that one included, they still average giving up 30 per game in front of Price. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/46 "2009-11-18T03:43:57Z")
: beats head against the wall : ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/47 "2009-11-18T04:08:47Z")
> [@KennerTheGreat](#): > > Habs D gives up an average of 32 shots a game in front of Price, compared to 27 in front of Halak. > > I know; small sample caveats apply, and that ridiculous 55 shots against debacle against Nashville skews the numbers a little. Still, even without that one included, they still average giving up 30 per game in front of Price. And your point, Mr. Walsh? šŸ˜ƒ For whatever reason, this team just isnā€™t working well. I like either goalie, but I dislike that Price gets dumped on so much for the rest of the teamā€™s failures. The next few games should be either interesting or frustrating: Washington, Detroit, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Washington againā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/48 "2009-11-18T18:57:40Z")
Giontaā€™s out indefinitely with a fractured foot. Source, [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/canadiens.de.montreal?ref=nf). That next stretch of games just got a lot tougher, seeing how all those teams can score, and us, wellā€¦not so much. In other news, [Brendan Shanahan has announced his retirement.](http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=506470) ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/49 "2009-11-20T03:16:28Z")
Toronto goes back into the basement. I hope Burke finally follows through with his threat of demotions to high paid players to the minors. Heā€™s been saying this from training camp yet hasnā€™t pulled the trigger to make the wake up call. I wanna see these veterans pay a price for not caring. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/50 "2009-11-20T03:17:43Z")
Losing Gionta sucks. Oā€™Byrne comes back tomorrow, apparently, so I suppose that is a tiny sliver of good news. Oh, and Laraque. The Hurricanes are no longer the worst team in the NHL, having beat the Leafs in a shootout. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/51 "2009-11-20T03:46:16Z")
Can we get a frigginā€™ rule change on this goal review nonsense. Detroit had another goal disallowed last night. Brad May shoots one in from a bit outside the paint (lest ye think this was a confusing scrum at the net) and it goes in. Three or four seconds later the ref blows the whistle and no goal. See, he meant to blow the whistle before hand so the goal didnā€™t count.šŸ˜• There was no ā€œno goalā€ call so the play shouldā€™ve been reviewed, and even the review judge seemed to be looking at the refs about the stinker of a call. Iā€™m not one to start claiming ref bias, but Iā€™m seeing more and more of these calls going against Detroit closing in on once a month. Anybody else noticing this crap going on more commonly with their teams? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/52 "2009-11-20T04:03:08Z")
It takes a special kind of suck to lose the way the Leafs did tonight. Wow. I was in awe. As a Leaf hater but a reflexive skeptic Iā€™ve been saying for weeks the Leafs arenā€™t as bad as people think. Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe they ARE as bad as people think. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/53 "2009-11-20T04:13:25Z")
That call was absolutely egregious. Itā€™s the worst call Iā€™ve seen since Ottawa was denied a goal in a 1997 playoff series because the replay booth had ā€œtechnical difficultiesā€. Hereā€™s a [youtube link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nZpCHtQYYI) for those who havenā€™t seen the play, The short version is that the Wings shot the puck, it went right into the net and the referee waved the goal off because he blew the whistle ā€¦ 2 seconds after the puck had entered the net. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/54 "2009-11-20T04:43:05Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It takes a special kind of suck to lose the way the Leafs did tonight. Wow. I was in awe. > > As a Leaf hater but a reflexive skeptic Iā€™ve been saying for weeks the Leafs arenā€™t as bad as people think. Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe they ARE as bad as people think. I think the Canes just found a little bit of that will to win from last season. Yhey still need to learn to play defense, or they will be going into a shootout with the Leafs for Taylor Hall. I agree, that was a goal. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/55 "2009-11-20T20:52:03Z")
> [@BMada](#): > > Toronto goes back into the basement. I hope Burke finally follows through with his threat of demotions to high paid players to the minors. Heā€™s been saying this from training camp yet hasnā€™t pulled the trigger to make the wake up call. I wanna see these veterans pay a price for not caring. Burke is an overrated blowhard who hasnā€™t proven anything except that he can win a Stanley Cup with Bryan Murrayā€™s team. Until he stops blustering and actually does something, what you see with this Leaf team is what youā€™re going to get. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/56 "2009-11-20T21:44:13Z")
Wowā€¦that was a bad call on that Detroit goal. That was definitely in! I donā€™t get this ā€œintent to blow the whistleā€ thingā€¦how can that be accurately determined after the fact? ā€œI intend to blow it nowā€¦no, nowā€¦noā€¦now! Ok, TWEET!ā€ Is this one of the rules up for discussion? Was it different before, and was the game worse for it? ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/57 "2009-11-20T23:31:54Z")
Well, the ā€œintent to blow the whistleā€ thing does make sense in certain circumstances. Say an offensive player runs over the goaltender while a teammate is shooting the puck, and the puck enters the net before the referee can blow the whistle to call the penalty. The fact that the puck entered the net before the ref blew the whistle shouldnā€™t really matter; the goal has to be disallowed. The problem is that referees are invoking this rule in ridiculous situations where they erroneously intended to blow the whistle but donā€™t want to admit that they were wrong. The Detroit play is just the worst example of this. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/58 "2009-11-21T01:52:33Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > The problem is that referees are invoking this rule in ridiculous situations where they erroneously intended to blow the whistle but donā€™t want to admit that they were wrong. The Detroit play is just the worst example of this. And in this case there was no reason to blow the whistle. There was no problem seeing the puck and IIRC the play was reviewable as there was no ā€œno goalā€ call made. I am curious to see if other teams have had this sort of thing happen. A quick consult with some fellow fans led to the conclusion that Detroit has had three goals disallowed this was in this season alone with at least one more being ā€œintent to whistle.ā€ Are the refs this lousy league wide or is it something about Detroit? ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/59 "2009-11-21T03:36:38Z")
Habs beat the Caps 3-2 in Washington, the first regulation loss for the Caps at home this year. Price has a 1.97 GAA and .941 SVPCT in his last six. Cammy had a goal and an assist, as did Plekanec. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243/60 "2009-11-21T03:42:34Z")
With regards to the officiating, I think it could be just a case of not enough good referees to go around. With the two-ref system, the NHL needs 30 refs on staff for nights when every team is playing. Some of those refs are bound to stink. ā€œIntent to blow the whistleā€ is nothing new, though. The first I remember hearing of it was the 1987 Adams Division Finals, between the Habs and Quebec Nordiques. Fifth game, late in the third period with the score tied. Hab player and Nordique player collided near the Montreal net. The Quebec player bumped into the Montreal goalie. Kerry Fraser signaled a penalty and was about to blow the whistle when a Quebec player shot the puck into the net. Fraser waved off the goal (this was four years before video replay), and shortly afterwards a Montreal player scored the game winner. The Habs would later win the series in seven games. Fraser was dropped from that yearā€™s playoff rotation after that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-november-2009/516243.md?page=4)