Early in the season, it appeared as if offside reviews were going to be the talk of the NHL season once again, but another confusing part of the NHL rulebook has barged into the spotlight: Goalie Interference.
Over the past couple of weeks it seems like there is constantly a new example emerging of a call that baffles just about everyone other than the NHL. Players, GMs and basically anybody watching hockey has started to speak out about the confusion around the crease.
Last night there were two more examples, one that went against the Winnipeg Jets and another against the St. Louis Blues.
Sports fans are always competitive and love to compare their teams, so we thought we’d dive in to who was on the wrong end of the biggest goalie interference screw-jobs. There have been plenty examples in the past as well, but with how frequently it’s happening this season, we’re comfortable filling a list with just examples from this season.
Here are the five most confusing goalie interference calls of the 2017-18 season:
6. Parise on Vasilevskiy
This seems pretty clear to us. Parise hits Vasilevskiy’s hand that is closest to stopping the puck, before the puck passes him. Obviously they either think that was outside of the crease or didn’t affect him. Comparing it to calls like this really makes us question this call.
5. Kyle Palmieri vs. Jaroslav Halak
While there is some contact on this one, it happens outside of the crease and it seems pretty incidental. If anything, Halak overcommitting the initial move put him in that position to collide with Palmieri.
4. Schmaltz on Andersen
There was no push and there is someone laying on top of the goalie in the crease before the puck is shot. How on earth was this not goalie interference.
3. Connor McDavid/Ryan Strome vs. the Flames
This just seems so minor. At first it kind of looks like McDavid hooks the goalie’s stick, but once you see the alternate angle where he barely bumps him, it seems like it didn’t factor too much into the play. If anything, it looks like the goalie follows McDavid with his blocker to that side and is just caught out of position.
This is another one that is magnified because of its comparison with other calls. Like, when you compare that one to this or this, we don’t understand how they can have totally different decisions.
2. Bruins on Jake Allen – (Watch here)
They literally pushed him all the way out of the crease. If calls like this are no goal, how was this one allowed?
1. James Neal on Connor Hellebuyck
This is just silly. So, basically the point of this one is that they’re saying the puck is loose, so it’s not goalie interference? We’re pretty sure that when someone’s stick gets broken over your face, it’s somewhat difficult to recover.
Hellebuyck says the solution for him might be to dive a little more.
