SABREOCRACY.NET (formerly SIVACRACY.NET)

I really liked Mark Herrmann's guest commentary in today’s Buffalo News (and kudos to the News for publishing it). He does an excellent job in illustrating why inconsistent officiating in the NHL continues to be a serious problem and how even one call can derail a team.

No one needs to explain to this long-time Buffalo fan how inconsistent and unfair the officiating can be. I was living in Buffalo during NO GOAL and I’m proud to say that I watched nearly every one of the Sabres’ regular season games that year, only to see Gary Bettman hand Dallas the cup after a terrible call that I still can’t understand. I had the added pleasure of flying home to Texas for my grandfather’s funeral the following day with a planeload of still-drunk, extremely obnoxious Stars fans, several of whom didn’t appear to even understand the most basic rules of the game. (Hey, Dallas: Screw you.)

Do I think this is some huge conspiracy on the part of the Toronto-based NHL to punish the Islanders for knocking the Leafs out of the playoffs? Absolutely not, just like I never really believed that there was a conspiracy to screw small-market Buffalo out of the cup in ’99. I think it was a convenient and lazy solution for the league and, ultimately, very, very foolish.

Did I think Witt’s goal in last night’s Game 4 should have counted? Yes. I’m not an official, I wasn’t at the game, and I don’t have access to all of the footage that was captured, but given what I’ve seen and read, I have to say “yes.” If someone has footage that proves otherwise, please send it on, but please don’t tell me that it all evens out because it doesn’t. At least not in the playoffs. Making the wrong call on a potential playoff goal can shift the entire momentum of a game and when you’re talking about the fourth game in a best of seven series instead of 82 regular season games, it can kill a team.

Do I think the Islanders would have won last night if Witt’s goal counted? Honestly, no. The Sabres are the better team and while the Isles have shown that they deserve to be in the playoffs, Buffalo is playing better and looked great at that point in the game. However, both teams deserved the chance to play it out and the fans (including those classy, classy Islander fans) deserved to watch. Despite being the biggest homer, I also like a fair fight.

I only hope that the NHL doesn’t try to “correct” their mistake by making similar calls at the Sabres’ expense in Game 5. There have been several inexplicable calls in this series that have hurt both teams and last night’s “no goal” could have changed the outcome of one of the seven games; however, that’s the league’s problem, not Buffalo’s. The Islanders aren’t out, yet, and the series continues tomorrow night. The Sabres, unfortunately, never got that chance in ’99.

GO SABRES

PS: The first disputed goal from Monday’s Game 3 that Herrmann refers to was a goal. Watch all of the available footage. Ted Nolan, someone I’ve never liked (sorry, Siva), has every right to be furious over last night’s call, but the earlier one was a goal, he knows it, and he needs to stop grouping the two together. It only hurts his case.