I just got home from the bar.
I don't have much to say other than I am completely and totally appalled by the officiating in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Letting them play is one thing but only calling penalties against one of the two teams makes the game lop-sided.
Do all these rejoicing Red Wings fans realize that they had a Power Play for 22 minutes of the game? That's OVER 1 full period.
Sure, Fleury let goals by. Only 2 of them were his fault. He can't make his offense want to play and he certainly can't defend on his own against 22 minutes of short hand. FYI Detroit, he pulled himself. It wasn't Detroit beating him that won them the game. It was the officials mismanaging calls and the Penguins lack of ability to do anything with the puck. The Red Wings didn't win Game 5. The officials controlled the game with 11 of the 13 penalties going on the Penguins.
Before you start celebrating, Red Wings fans, realize that the Powers-That-Be will flip the table on you in Game 6 since both the NHL and NBC want this series to go to a Game 7 because they want the viewers to take an interest. The NHL wants the Penguins to win because it looks like an underdog story and Penguins merchandise is currently the fastest growing merchandise brand in the nation. The NHL wants those new buyers to watch so they can make more money with the networks and the networks want the viewers so they can make more money from sponsors.
This is a money game at work.
As for Marc-Andre Fleury, I love him. The score doesn't accurately reflect how he played. The shots on goal don't accurately reflect how he played.
By the way, how the FUCK does Chris Osgood get a Star when he did nothing all game???? "Hey, stand there." Big deal. They got a shut out, that doesn't mean he did well.
I'm sure Mighty #66 is having a fit right now... as well he should!
Jen,
ReplyDeleteI'm reading because I like the person who advertised this link (pensblogtweet). I'm a Detroit fan, but I'll assure you I'm no troll and I just have a general love for sports and love conversing with other teams fans. That being said, I understand your frustration with losing a pretty pivotal game by 5 goals, but I don't think this game falls on poor officiating.
I know you were at a bar, as was I, but a lot of the Penguins penalties were about as clear as can be. Also, about 10 minutes of those 22 minutes you speak of (which I believe you're slightly off on exactly how many minutes it truly was) came in the 3rd period when it was already 5-0 and way out of reach. At that point, the Penguins were just committing penalties out of frustration. Don't forget the Penguins had 3 power plays too and didn't do anything with them, which is uncharacteristic considering they've been good on the PP all series up to this game.
Then to say that Osgood didn't do shit is completely unfair. He saved 22 shots, so he definitely did not just stand between the pipes and pick his nose. Anytime a goalie has a shutout you have to believe he did something right and I think this is no exception.
We're all entitled to our opinions, you gave yours respectfully... that's that. Although, I'm not quite sure how to respond because you didn't include "twat" or "dumb bitch" in your reply so I'm going to have to try and wing this one.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree maybe 3 penalties on the Penguins were valid, the other 5 (totaling 8 by the end of the game for a max 16 minutes, my bad) were in that nice gray area that's left open for interpretation. In addition to that, the Red Wings had what... 2 by the end of the night? Those 2 penalties excluded Cleary knocking Kunitz over and then *sitting* on him at center ice and a blatantly missed holding call on... well frankly I can't remember who it was now that I've gotten some sleep.
My description of Osgood's performance was more geared towards the Penguins offense rather than the Red Wings defense. He may have saved 22 shots in game 5 but how many did he face in games 3 and 4 or even 1 and 2?
The difference in numbers is due to the penalty calls.
I have no problem admitting that I'm a new fan to this sport, I jumped on the "bandwagon" back in January when the Pens were on their super-sucky streak and then really started paying attention as soon as Disco Dan took over.
That said, I have been the person through all of this saying "I wanna watch hockey, just let them play." If the Penguins had actually scored on that uncalled 20 second 6 man advantage in game 2 (I think?), does any Red Wings fan actually believe that the goal wouldn't have been called back? Last night, the officials didn't "let them play" the officials controlled the game through some pretty uneven judgments.
That was my original point.