WRIST SHOTS: GREAT MOMENTS IN OFFICIATING

Alas, no sport is safe from crap referees.

Sure, there might be some bad calls here or there, and a waved-off goal in the mix, but NHL refs usually call a pretty good game. But when a garbage call basically decides a game in the playoffs it really hurts. I'm going to try to separate myself from the rest of the whining bloggers out there, and just say "Oh well"--but this clearly sucks. Ottawa clearly lucked out based on the ignored interference call in last night's 2-0 debacle. Now allow me to quote the CBS Sportsline "glog":

"In all fairness to Brodeur it is clear now that the only reason why that puck went in is because he was blatantly interfered with by Mike Fisher who innocently skated by stuck his skate out to catch Brodeur’s skate. Brodeur was turned looking for an interference call as the puck went in. The Senators just got a break no matter how unfair- play continued and they have a 1-0 lead."

I've also read some (Canadian) articles that say, "Fisher never entered the crease so it's okay", but that's incorrect. Here's Rule 78(b) in the NHL Rule Book:

"If an attacking player initiates any contact with a goalkeeper, other than incidental contact, while the goalkeeper is outside his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed."

I might as well add this quote from Fisher, while I'm seething with burning hatred of all things black and white striped:

"I got a piece of Brodeur and I tripped him up a little bit and Preissing got the shot away," Fisher said. "It was a great shot. I didn't intentionally try to trip him."

So as long as you don't "mean" to do it, just interfere with the goalie as much as you want! Even if he's not lying (why would Preisser even attempt a shot at such a horrible angle if Fisher wasn't planning to mess with Marty . . . ?), that's absolute fucking garbage. And the killer is that the Senators know it too. I don't want to hear "sometimes you get the bounces, and sometimes you don't", because that was interference, not a lucky bounce.

However, the bottom line is that the Devils still got shut out by Emery. They will probably end up losing this series, and this may never get mentioned again, but I can't get all worked up about it. Somewhere deep underneath Toronto, there's a magical elf that determines all these outcomes, and the Devils appear to be on the shit end of the stick right now.

That just means my golf season starts that much earlier.

Oh, and I guess I should wish everyone a happy MAY DAY! MAY DAY! MAY DAY! MAY DAY! MAY DAY! MAY DAY! For the sake of Rangers fans, hopefully Rick Jeanneret won't have anything to shout about tonight. The Sabres have been outplayed so far, and Ruff says it's time to get ugly.