Jun

12

Last night's Stanley Cup final game illustrated the Chair's point about diversion of energy. Having lost the first three games of the best-of-7 final to the Los Angeles Kings, the New Jersey Devils won two games and could have tied the series with a victory last night. Early in the game, the Kings' Jarret Stoll put a late hit on the Devils' Steven Gionta from behind and went unpenalized. Seconds later, the Kings' Rob Scuderi retrieved the puck. After Scuderi passed the puck to a teammate, the Devils' Steve Bernier hit Scuderi late from behind, drawing blood. The officials threw the book at Bernier, assessing a 5-minute penalty and ejecting Bernier from the game. During the 5-minute penalty, the Kings scored three goals. The television announcers noted that the Devils' coach and players were furious at the officials for the gross inconsistency in responding to the two late hits. And, it seemed, the Devils had a valid point. Nevertheless, they went on to lose the game, 6-1.


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  1. steve leslie on June 12, 2012 12:37 pm

    You left out a few facts. Scuderi was hit hard from behind, driven into the boards, and laid on the ice for a while recovering from an apparent near concussion. The offending player Bernier was assessed a five minute major. Game misconduct. The alleged prior offense would have been a boarding call which would be a 2 minute minor.

    A 5 minute major is one of the worst penalties because the time does not get waved off in the event of a goal. Which occured 3 times in the 5 minute time frame. The final 2 goals were empty netters long after the outcome had been determined.

    The Kings went into the series as the hottest team in hockey and continued through the finals. They finished off the devils in a blitzkrieg of goals due to the major.

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