Rules Rules Rules

For those of you at the Admirals game tonight you saw Ryan Lasch take the 4th shot in the shoot out.  During this shot Pasquale knocked the net off in an attempt to make the save.  The ref called the shot a goal and then went to review the shot.  First the call on the ice was a goal so it shouldn't have been reviewed.  But more importantly the ref made the determination the goalie didn't intentionally knock the goal off.  The ref must not have read the latest edition of the rule book.  Last year the rule says if the goalie knocks the net off during a penalty shot (shoot out) the skater is awarded a chance to retake the shot.  There was a rule change this year.  Rule 24.4 states:
"During the shot, should the goalkeeper, in an attempt at making a save, dislodge the goal accidentally, the Referee shall make one of the following determinations: 

a. Award a goal if he deems the player would have scored into the area normally occupied by the net had it not been dislodged. 

b. Allow the shot to be re-taken if he does not score or it could not be determined if the puck would have entered the area normally occupied by the net. 

c. If the goal becomes dislodged after the puck has crossed the goal line thus ending the shot, the above determinations do not apply, the shot is complete."

The ref had the call right the first time.  The goal was good.  This would fall under "a" of this rule.  The goal was called a goal on the ice and therefore would have been a goal if the goal was not dislodged.  The ref either over thought the process by looking at the review and for some reason the slow motion threw him off or he didn't know the rule changed from last year.  He may have also thought 78.5 (ix) should be used but because this happened during a shootout not regular play the penalty shot rules take precedence.  And for those of you that are thinking this was a shootout not a penalty shot, rule number 85.4 says the penalty shot rules in section 24 will be used for shootouts.  

Of course then you have Rule number 25.4 that says "During the Course of a Penalty Shot - A goal will be awarded when a goalkeeper attempts to stop a penalty shot by 

throwing his stick or any other object at the player taking the shot or by dislodging the goal (either deliberately or accidentally) (see Rule 63.7). "

My problem is these refs come in and they don't even know the rule book.  It is a bit sad that a fan of the game knows the rules of the game better than the refs themselves.  That's why I always ask a shitty ref "how it feels about me knowing his job better than he does?"

This rule stuff can be confusing.  Hope this clears everything up.  A win is a win but it should have been finished earlier and Lasch should have been credited with a shootout goal.  By the way the Admirals won and Fasth proved he is worth every penny of the 1 million dollars the ducks payed him for one year.

With that said... Rabbi out!

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**The Rant Norfolk Admirals is in no way affiliated with the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. The views and opinions in this blog do not reflect the views and opinions of the AHL or the Norfolk Admirals organization. For the fans by the fans.