May 1, 2015
Thumbs: Hiller or Ramo?
Thumbs down from TSN's Dave Hodge on what the NHL may or may not do in the aftermath of Nicklas Backstrom's hit on Dan Boyle on Thursday night and thumbs both up and down depending on how the Calgary Flames handle their goaltending in Game 2 against Anaheim.
By Dave Hodge
This is getting quite ridiculous, to say the least. Another hit that doesn't bring a penalty but will either result in action after the fact or an outcry louder than the one that greeted the hit.
So this is the same as Niklas Kronwall's hit on Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov? No, nothing that simple. The Kronwall hit had no bearing on the game, although it certainly did on the next one, which Kronwall was forced to miss and was Detroit's last of the season.
The controversy that rages this time starts with Washington's Nicklas Backstrom charging and crunching Dan Boyle of the Rangers into the end boards without a whistle for a penalty, thus allowing play to continue for Joel Ward's winning goal with just over a second left in the third period.
If, as expected, the NHL takes no action on the Backstrom hit, I'm going to guess that expediency is at least part of the reason. As an isolated case, I think the league would review it.
There's an argument for a fine, if not a suspension, and that is over and above the Rangers' claim that a penalty of some sort should have been called on the ice. But - especially after the Kronwall matter - if the NHL now disciplined a player for an infraction that was ignored on the ice, caused an injury and led to a winning goal in the last second of a playoff game, that would be the perfect storm. So, one way or the other - look at it again or look the other way - thumbs down.
---
Everybody understands and usually agrees with the goalie switch.
A team goes down two or three goals and the coach pulls the goalie. Sometimes the goals are bad ones and other times, the coach's move is all about momentum - stopping it, and hopefully reversing it. And it often works.
When it doesn't, so what? The game appeared lost anyway.
When Calgary coach Bob Hartley lifted starter Jonas Hiller with an early 2-0 deficit in Game 6 against Vancouver, the switch to Karri Ramo seemed an obvious move and the Flames roared back to win the game and the series.
Now Hiller was back in action to face his old team in Anaheim Thursday night and things didn't go well for him or anyone else in a Flames uniform. So Hartley went to Ramo again after three goals by the Ducks. And 3-0 wound up as 6-1. Hartley now has a dilemma - the next game can't begin with the starting goalie and his teammates thinking that the guy on the bench might finish the game.
The Calgary coach needs to declare that Hiller or Ramo is going the rest of the way in the series.
Thumbs up if he does that - never mind which goalie he picks. And thumbs down if he doesn't, because the next goalie switch - unless caused by an injury - is one too many.