WSJ: Embarassing Weekend For WCHA

From: Wisconsin State Journal
by Andy Baggot


(left) Wisconsin sportswriters and fans haven't quite gotten through the grieving process just yet

It was an embarrassing weekend for WCHA management — specifically McLeod and Greg Shepherd, the supervisor of officials — as far as the series is concerned. It started with Schmidt's error in the opener. It continued the next night when Schmidt was allowed to officiate.

To review: TV replays showed Ford scored with 0.9 seconds left, a point driven home by the fact Schmidt signaled for the goal and the red goal light went on. The light and game clock are synchronized, so that it can't be illuminated if time has expired.

A witness said Schmidt took a cursory look at one frame in his review: The one where the clock showed 00:00.

That overhead snapshot showed the puck in the crease, so Schmidt had to have assumed it hadn't crossed the goal line.

In fact, the puck already had crossed the goal line at that point and the puck had come back out of the net.

Earlier this season, Magness Arena was designated by the league as a site where officials could review multiple camera angles in order to get goal calls correct. Had Schmidt taken full advantage of that reality, the weekend would have gone much smoother.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

So that's what happened... the ref. looked at one frame, not the play in motion.

dggoddard said...

See the Sat. night FCS broadcast of the game just before the game started and they show the camera angle and the clock that the ref watched the night before.

Anonymous said...

Other than being a make-up call for Friday night, has there been an explanation for Schmidt's mistake on the second Wisconsin goal Saturday night?

dggoddard said...

The FCS replay of Wiscosin's 2nd goal showed that the puck was in the net before the whistle blew. Normally most refs won't go to the replay in that situation because the play is dead before the whistle is blown.

ie- The ref sees a situation and then there's a fraction of a second or longer before he blows the whistle.

Anonymous said...

what an idiot this writer is. the red goal light has absolutely nothing to do with if it is a goal or not. if the goal light meant ANYTHING official, then DU would have had another goal saturday, as the goal light was lit from a du shot that hit a post. goal judges are just human and hit the light either early or when they shouldn't quite often.

sometimes, the goal judge doesn't even turn on the light before the clock guy stops the clock. under this guy's reasoning that obviously would mean the goal should not count.

IT IS QUITE IGNORANT TO CITE THE GOAL LIGHT IN CLAIMING ANYTHING!!!!

TigerPride said...

hey "anonymous" the reason the light is an issue is because it can't be lit if time has expired. Why is this a big ordeal? Because the ref thought that time had expired, no one objected to the fact that the goal went in. But hey, if you want to yell and scream like and uninformed 5 year old who's going to stop you?!!

Anonymous said...

hey, cheetahpride --

What don't you understand?

You can't use something totally unofficial (like a goal light) to make an official call. The goal light has absolutely nothing to do with if or when a goal is scored.

The clock doesn't stop and play doesn't stop because of a goal light being lit. A goal judge has no official say WHATSOEVER if a goal is a good or not.

Some people who have no knowledge of how the whole system works actually think a goal judge has some official say in these situations. They are there more out of tradition and the goal light is there for the fans -- not the ref.
This was true before replay and now the replay system just reinforces how moot gj's really are.

I just don't understand why you don't get it -- the goal light is never used as evidence to say officially if the goal is good or not...and, thus, we as fans should never use the goal light as a barometer for anything.

However, it has become quite obvious that the puck did cross the line before the green light came on. That is what is important -- the green light is official.

Get it? Unofficial will never equal official. They're opposites.

I haven't seen the goal light referenced even once in any WCHA statement. Why? Because they get it and you just don't.

It is just plain absurd to use an unofficial light to prove official. It's called logic...