Polemic Hockey

While the Pronger hit and the evidently not kicking motion goal will get most of the attention, the true turning point in Game 3 was the bizarre hooking penalty on Vinny Nidermeyer in the Second Period. At that point the Ducks were winning 3-2 and had mostly outplayed the Sens. Perhaps there was something that the ref saw that I could not, but from my vantage point that was not even close to a penalty; even the Versus crew agreed.

The Ducks killed that one off but it begat a real penalty on O'Donnell that the Sens scored on. Again, no disrespect to the Sens. They did indeed score the goals - not the Refs. They are a talented and able team. Still, that was not a penalty. It appeared to be another prime example of Mario Kart Officiating: Giving the losing team every chance that it can to draw even.

Lame.