It's a Conspiracy!!

Why is it that no fanbase ever can just let a call go against them?

It's one thing to cry about a call you don't like. I should know about this. But we look stupid when we start talking about conspiracies.

Of course, that's where fans go whenever a call goes against them in the playoffs.

Monday night in Los Angeles, such a call went against the Vancouver Canucks.



Watch the video a few times. I did, and here are my conclusions.

• To be totally fair, this was a very tough call. Hardly a no-brainer.
• The fact it wasn't a no-brainer does NOT mean the league was wrong to overturn the call on the ice, which was that it was a good goal. It just means it was a harder decision than many others they'll make in these playoffs.
• You can't argue that the puck was propelled into the net by Sedin's skate. If Daniel doesn't hit the puck with that kind of force, it never gets across the goal line without hitting something or someone else first.
• Yes, Sedin was stopping. No, he might not have known what he was doing. But it looks like he intentionally hit the puck in a manner that allowed it to be propelled into the goal.
• You can argue that it should have counted, but you can't fairly argue that the league was absolutely wrong. With that being said, how the hell is it a conspiracy?

After the game, which Vancouver ended up losing 5-3, the Canucks were livid. The Vancouver media -- predictably -- went along for the ride.

Apparently Mike Murphy said all this with a straight face.

Asked by the CBC to comment on the disallowed goal by Daniel Sedin early in the third period, Murphy, the NHL's vice president of hockey operations, had this to say: "He knew what he was doing when he stopped in front of the net. . .I think he knew where the puck was, absolutely."

Murphy said it wasn't a "distinct kicking motion" but a "kicking motion." Oh, there's a difference.

He said Sedin "twisted his toe" and pushed the puck in the direction of Jonathan Quick's five-hole.

Twisted his toe? Is that any relation to Twisted Sister?

That was a horrendous call. The Canucks deserved to lose the game, but that goal should have counted and it would have made for a very interesting finish.

I loved Henrik Sedin's quote after the game.

"I didn't even think they were going to take a look at it," Henrik said. "I thought it was a great goal. Then they went upstairs and it took forever and I was like, 'wow, this is unbelievable.' Sometimes it seems like the guys in Toronto they sit there and make their calls anyway they want. This is the playoffs. They had to over-rule it, too, that's the toughest part. If the refs said no or it's questionable, that's fine. He said it was a good goal. It's awful."

Whenever you read your local paper and think the writers are biased, or complain about the slants you see in blogs that cover your teams, remember this.

Let's re-enter the real world, shall we?

Henrik is expected to be upset. That's why you let him blow off his steam, and you DON'T PRINT HIS INCENDIARY COMMENTS. Idiot.

The league didn't overturn this goal because they wanted to. They overturned it because -- based on the rule in place -- they felt it was the right call. The NHL doesn't care who wins and who loses, and they certainly don't care about a franchise that doesn't make a dent in the local television ratings and hasn't made the playoffs in close to a decade.

If you need to blame someone for Vancouver falling behind 2-1 in this series, how about the goalie who couldn't stop a beach ball Monday night, or the penalty kill that has allowed five goals in the Kings' last six power play chances?