Memorandum Follows Wild Incident This Weekend
CHN Staff Report
Hockey East’s commissioners office sent a memo today to all teams in the league banning the “use of any theatrical lights, dimming, or strobe effects after goals are scored.” The issue will be further reviewed before next season.
The memo became necessary following a problem in this past weekend’s game between Massachusetts and Connecticut in Amherst.
Playing in overtime, arena officials triggered their usual in-arena goal celebration after what they thought was a UMass goal. That celebration includes lighting that goes dark, and other effects, not all that different than what happens at many NHL arenas.
The problem was, it wasn’t a goal, and UConn went down the ice with a goal-scoring opportunity. Instead, when the lights went dark, the referees blew the play dead.
UMass went on to win the game in a shootout.
The incident sparked a firestorm of remarks on social media.
Though the difference is negligible for league play, UConn currently sits on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament at No. 15 in the NPI. While the difference between what’s effectively a tie and an OT win, in one game, is pretty small, it would’ve been enough for UConn to move into the 14th slot. The difference could prove enormous in the end.
Of course there’s no way of knowing if UConn really would’ve scored. At that point, UMass goalie Michael Hrabel had already stopped 50 of 53 UConn shots in the game.