This Might Be One of the Worst Calls in NHL History…

Look off a skate loose fori. Chand it away and he’s no goal says the ref. After the coaches challenge, it was determined there was goalender interference. The call in the ice stands. No go. The Hawks walked out of the UC feeling absolutely robbed after dropping a 3-2 shootout heartbreaker to Vancouver. Things started perfectly. Ryan Donado cashed in on the power play and Tyler Batuzzi cleaned up a rebound to make it two nothing early. However, the Canucks clawed back with a pair in the second to even things up. Then came one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. With about five minutes left, Bratusi looked like he buried his second of the night, only for referees Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles to wave it off for goalie interference. Yes, this was called goalender interference. After a long review and a whole lot of confusion, the call somehow stood. After the game, Bertusi kept it short. No comment on the no goal, no fine to pay. You could tell he wanted to say more, but the look on his face just said enough. Head coach Jeff Blasell took the high road as well, steering clear of the officiating talk and zooming out on the bigger picture. They’re on the second half of a backto back, he said. When we go up two nothing, that’s when you can’t let them breathe. I thought we sat back in the second, got way too passive. We gave them life and we didn’t have to. It was a night filled with frustration for the Hawks. Not from this guy, though. Far less frustration for Connor Baddard. The last time he faced his hometown Canucks, it marked one of the lowest points of his young career. A minus2 performance with costly turnovers and an early exit after a late game misconduct. It was his second straight game being tossed from action, sparking headlines that the young phenom was already boiling over in Chicago. Well, what a difference a few months can make. This time around, Bardi came in riding a wave of confidence. Fresh off an 83 dismantling of the Blues on Wednesday. The conversation around him and his Hawks couldn’t be more different. Bard was all over the ice last night. Four shots on goal, seven attempts, and a team high 25 minutes of ice time. He finished the night a plus one, though he did spend a bit of time in the box with four penalty minutes. The second call being pretty questionable at best. He couldn’t cash in during the shootout either. And while it’s just one moment, those are the kind of plays he’ll eventually need to bury if he wants to take that next step into becoming a true superstar. Speaking of the last meeting, things got ugly. Late in the third, Jason Dickinson sent Philip Heedle hard into the boards from behind. Heedel, who had already had a history of concussions, ended up missing the rest of the season because of it. There was no penalty on the play, but Dickinson didn’t see the ice again that night. Still, the damage was done and the Conucks were furious. Forward Kefir Shearwood made that clear afterward, calling out the hit and the lack of a call, setting the stage for some extra tension heading into the rematch. Dickinson’s line got the first shift. No gloves were dropped. Midway through the opening period, Sherwood found someone else, scrapping it out with Tyler Batuzi. In the second, Dickinson did take a questionable hit from Connor Garland that sent him briefly to the room. However, he was right back out there not long after. And once he returned, that line picked up right where they left off. Dickinson, Donado, and McKv were dominant again, controlling just about every metric at five on five. They outshot the Canucks 10 to one, led 15 to four in attempts and owned both the scoring and high danger chances. Whenever Jeff Blashel needed to calm things down or flip momentum, he turned to them every time and they delivered. Midway through the game, Blashel gave the lines a tweak, bumping Batusi up to skate with Badard and Burkovski. Colton Doc opened the night on the top unit, but finished with the fewest minutes on the team at just 8 minutes and 41 seconds of ice time. He still made the most of it though, throwing three hits and firing four shots on goal, a solid showing in limited ice. Unfortunately, Lucas Reichel didn’t have the night he or anyone wanted. just two shot attempts and a careless high stick penalty that set up Vancouver’s first goal. Blahill still leaned on him in four-on- four situations. Though, hoping to capitalize on his speed. Still, after the kind of big game he had in St. Louis, two shot attempts just isn’t enough. A lot of fans are hard on Artim Levchenov. And in some ways, that’s fair. The organization has big expectations for him, after all. But let’s not forget, he’s a 19-year-old with just 15 NHL games under his belt. That said, he did a couple of things tonight worth highlighting. In a fouron four sequence, he squared off against Evander Kane in front of the net, perfectly tying up his stick to stop a scoring chance. And Donado’s power play goal never happens without Levino holding the blue line. Overall, that phantom goalender interference call grabbed all the attention, but it doesn’t erase the good stuff. The Hawks had plenty of positives tonight, and one bad call shouldn’t change the vibe around this team. They dominated five on five, outshooting Vancouver 26-5 and finishing with 33 shots on goal. The power play clicked for a fourth straight game, and the Hawks won the faceoff battle again at 58%. It’s a frustrating loss, no doubt, but the sting is sharper because the early season success has raised expectations. And that’s exactly where this team wants to be. [Music]

This might just be one of the worst calls of all time…
The Hawks walked out of the United Center feeling robbed after dropping a 3–2 shootout heartbreaker to Vancouver. Things started perfectly when Ryan Donato cashed in on the power play and Tyler Bertuzzi cleaned up a rebound to make it 2–0 early. But the Canucks clawed back with a pair in the second to even things up.
Then with about five minutes left, Bertuzzi looked like he’d buried his second of the night only for referees Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles to wave it off for “goalie interference.” #nhl #hockey #chicagoblackhawks #blackhawks #chicago #icehockey
Audio credit @WhiteBatAudio
Main @MSZFilms

50 comments

  1. Sorry this one’s a bit late, boys! My software crashed and I had to remake this entire video lmao. But hey, better late than never. I would also love to hear your thoughts on this “goaltender interference” call😂😭

  7. lets not forget, last 5 penalties called in the game all against chicago – the only 3 penalties in the third period against chicago including 2 in the last 5 minutes

  13. what's the most baffling about this to me is that throughout the entire play, not only does Bert never make contact with the goalie, but the only thing to enter the crease was the back of his skate at the very start of the play. He did nothing but touch the puck with his stick. Which is the whole fucking point of the sport.

  16. I was at the game and while yes the Blackhawks eased up too much, in the end that's a moot point because Bertuzzi's goal would've been then end of it and it absolutely should've counted. Because how many times have we seen players wack at a goalie's pad's trying to get at the puck especially in the playoffs. If everyone else in the League can do it then there's no excuse.

  19. It seems the NHL has it in for the Hawks. My friend feels its due to the Beach stuff. He says the league is punishing them. Sometimes it seems he is correct.

  21. That's how NHL officials should be having to think about making obviously blatant BS calls. I better not call a bad penalty that even a blind man can see or I'll get fined. The officiating crews should be fined a grand each time they make such atrocious rulings and the replay people reviewing that call should be fckn fired. It's sickening to have such bad calls go against a team, any team, as it effects the outcomes of games and factors in a teams standing, possible playoff spots, players stats and much money is won/lost based on bogus calls. It cheapens and takes away the integrity of NHL games. Same thing with NFL referees. The officiating in sports is getting worse every year not better. Sh!t is rigged.

  22. Last night whirl watching Panger said that Foligno daughter’s surgery was successful. Let’s hope she doesn’t have to experience this again. Let’s go hawks

  29. Of course you think it's a bad call as a partisan Hawks fan. Bertuzzi repeatedly hit Lankinen's pad with his stick to move it out of the way of the puck and ended up pushing it in the net. That is not allowed, and the puck was secured under the pad. Clear goaltender interference.

  31. It's incredible how the second that they started allowing betting platforms as sponsors these wildly stupid calls happen. Almost like there's a conflict of interest.

  35. i don't think bad call. here's how it breaks down.
    – call on ice is no goal from pushing pad with stick causing goal. right or wrong we go upstairs
    – when we go upstairs, we are checking for two things: did stick move pad, and did stick touch puck FIRST
    – stick clearly moved pad, as pad and goalie were completely static until the attempt to jam the puck in, no reasonable person would debate that point after watching replay
    – it was impossible to determine if the stick hit the puck first, SO THE CALL ON THE ICE STANDS.

    the bad part of this play was the Hawks reviewing this in a 2-2 game with little time left, risking being short handed. they had access to the replay and should have anticipated how it was going to be reviewed. they need a more critical eye on the bench making those calls, not someone caught up in the emotion of having a goal called back.

  37. *Waved off – "Puck was covered, whistle blown."
    "No it wasn't! Challenged!"
    "Hmmm yeah, goalie interference. Call stands. Delay of game, you're wasting everybody's time".

    I don't care what anybody says, the integrity of the NHL was knocked down a peg because of this, how they deal with it will be telling.

  39. Wins and losses are arbitrary outcomes, when was the last time the Hawks dominated a team at 5 on 5? There are absolutely many things that need to improve, but so far the Blashill experience has been overwhelmingly positive

  44. This is 100% how Vegas Master Bookies control sports, and betting lines- live, and at will- the random and ridiculous ref calls are used to manipulate betting, depending on which team and numbers need manipulation to make Bookmakers more money ey

  47. Hawks again giving those opportunities. Stay out of the penalty box. What happened in the second? Sleep walking the entire 20 minutes. You need to close these games out FULL STOP.

  48. It was an awful call for sure, it may have cost the Hawks the game however there is a positive that can be taken away from this particular call – it exposed this young talented core to adversity – because keep in mind calls like this WILL happen again and you have to get though them, and not allow them to deflate or turn momentum in tight games… Look, I don't want to sound old, but I've been a Hawks fan since the early 80's so I've seen plenty of great teams and plenty of bad teams and everything in-between and one of the traits that sets great teams apart from good teams or legitimate contenders is how they respond collectively to adversity.. I know some casual or younger fans may think adversity isn't as important of an issue as I'm making it out to be – but it really is – great teams can kill bad penalties in key moments when it matters, great teams can get though blown calls (and even 'soft goals') and not allow those issues to affect the momentum of a game, or the teams present overall mindset – and that matters – and this is something the Hawks 'Dynasty' teams from 2010-2015 had mastered – there are numerous examples of those teams facing extreme adversity in extremely high pressure situations and getting though it – both in the playoffs and regular season. Remember Hossa's 5 minute major? or Hammers OT GWG that was called off?? yea, those are just a couple of examples where the Hawks faced adversity and 'owned it' but there are numerous other examples.. But those 'Dynasty' Hawks teams learned their will to get past adversity when they were a young core – and I'd argue that one game in particular gave them that mindset and taught them to never give up – it was a game against Calgary during the 08-09 regular season. The Hawks went down to Calgary 5-0 after the first period, and came back and won that game 6-5 in overtime – they faced adversity and slayed it – and from that point forward that team was NEVER out of a game – even if they were losing, they never gave up and played some of their best hockey in close games and stressful situations – it's like that November regular season game against Calgary "flipped a switch" on that team for a decade..

    Look, the point I'm trying to make is that it's nice to see this team face adversity early and get though it and stay in the game and get a point out of it in a shootout – that's valuable experience this team needs to learn if they're going to be as successful as the Hawks teams from the 2010's…. So yea, the "no goal" call was awful – but there are plenty of positives to take away from that call, and there will certainly be more questionable calls this season and I hope the Hawks continue to learn how to get though those difficult moments and not have it affect their game, collective mindset, momentum etc..

    Fans need to understand that this season is about improvement, and shaping and rounding this team, building line/player chemistry and getting these kids more experience hence more comfortable and adjusted to the nuances of the NHL – both on-ice and off.. And thus far they look terrific, you can finely start to see a real hockey team come into place, the core is demonstrating what they will look like and what they can do with a little more NHL experience, and as a longtime Hawks fan I'm very excited about this team both presently and it's future..

    Sorry about the long post, while some are frustrated with the call (and rightly so) I just thought I'd share a little wisdom and point out that even bad calls can be positives in the long-term, because everything the Hawks go though over the next couple of seasons will be a learning opportunity for these kids and I think that's something a lot of casual fans and younger fans often overlook.

  49. Was this the same ref who gave Vancouver another one against the Caps when he didn't blow the whistle even though he could see the goaltender had his glove on the puck? And this was goaltender interference?
    This is BS. Pure and simple. And the call that went against the Caps netted Van a power play goal a minute later due to a delay of game penalty against the Caps. Is the season going to be like this all year?
    The NHL leadership is still woke, I reckon, and the refs will always be able to find jobs with the WNBA if they'd want to feel right at home with their calls. And no, I haven't got a single thing against Vancouver. Just p!ss poor reffing.

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