2009-10 Flyers Season Thread

[Seabiscuit36]

Boosh plays well everywhere but here, unless its 2000.  The guy just cant stay healthy, and he's not reliable.  Leighton has done a great job just playing the game the right way.  He overcommits and leaves the goal wide open at times, but he's cheaper, and has produced so far.  Emery is up in Glenn Falls doing a rehab stint and should be back in 2-3 games so long as he's healthy.  This team is infinitely better with Betts/Powe/Gagne in the lineup its scary. 

[Seabiscuit36]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/homepage/20100110_Flyers_Notes___NHL_says_video_on_Gagne_shot_too_late.html

Flyers Notes

An NHL executive said last night that replay officials in Toronto were not given the proper replays by Fox Sports in Pittsburgh on Thursday, when they ruled that Simon Gagne's goal did not count against the host Penguins.

Gagne swatted a second-period rebound that Penguins goalie Brent Johnson smothered and appeared to carry into the net. It was not ruled a goal on the ice, and when replay officials in Toronto viewed the replays, they said the evidence was "inconclusive" and did not count the goal.

A few minutes after the ruling, another replay was shown in the press box, showing the puck past the goal line.

Fox did not send that replay to Toronto officials until after the puck was dropped following the ruling.

"At that point, the ruling was permanent," said John Dellapina, an NHL executive.

The Flyers' telecast was using the Pittsburgh video feed and did not have any video to send to Toronto.

LMAO... Mickey Mouse runs this shtein. 

And LOL at Grapes's suit last night http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/ID=1381524251

[LBIggle]

nothing will be done about it.  they'll write it off as a communication error or something lame and canadian and move on.

[PhillyGirl]

nothing will be done about it.  they'll write it off as a communication error or something lame and canadian and move on.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20100112_NHL_investigating_withholding_of_tape_of_Flyer_s_goal.html

[ice grillin you]

NHL: did you intentionally not send that conclusive replay to toronto?

Penguins Network: no

NHL: [scribble something on a notepad] well ok thanks for your cooperation....

[Seabiscuit36]

Its pathetic as farg, but whats worse is this for the league.

Alex Burrows told the media after Vancouver's 3-2 loss to Nashville, that referee Stephane Auger came up to him before the game and told he was going to make him pay for making him look bad with a dive in an earlier game. 

Auger gave Burrows a late gamer.

Alex Burrows rocked the NHL and risked fines (for sure) and suspension (possible) Monday with strong words contending a referee was out to get him and told him so before the game.

Burrows was called for three penalties in the game, two were costly and, at best, questionable, at worst non-existent. One, a phantom interference call 15:15 into the third, took the Canucks off the power play in a 2-2 game and essentially cost Vancouver the game.

"It was personal," said Burrows, shaking in a post-game scrum while talking to media.

Burrows fingered referee Stephane Auger and said he approached him before the game. Auger brought up a hit in Nashville on Dec. 8, according to Burrows, when Jerred Smithson got a game misconduct for charging Burrows. The suggestion is that Auger thought, in retrospect, Burrows dived.

"It started in warm-up," Burrows said. "Before the anthem, the ref came over and said I made him look bad in Nashville on the Smithson hit and we was going to get me back tonight.

"When Smithson hit me sideways he said 'I saw the replay you had your head up and weren't really hurt and you made me look bad and I'm going to get you tonight and it cost us two points.'"

"He got me on a diving call that I didn't think was diving and an interference call. I had no idea how he could call that. It changed the game. Right now, for our teammates are battling hard to win. Because of a guy's ego, it just blows everything out of proportion and the refs are making bad calls and we're paying for it."
"He comes into the game and he's going to make a call to give Nashville the advantage and I don't think that's fair for my teammates and for the fans.
After my second penalty, (misconduct) I skated by him start I'm going to kick you out said we could still win the game with three seconds left. It's stupid he takes it personal against guys."

"I think he should sit out the rest of the year making calls like that are making us look bad."

http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbZ0L7VtHuE&feature=player_embedded

Auger is the guy who gave Carcillo the 9-minute penalty for knocking out Bradley and also called a no goal on Hartnell's goal in Ottawa in early Dec.  He said Hartnell pushed the goalie, which he didn't.

As a referee you are not a direct representitive of your employer, you are like an non-influenced arbitrator. I am not sure if this was Warren or not but the core of the NHL argument was that he took the side of a union and not the NHL.






Thursday, December 03, 2009
Posted By Ben Valentine 12:45 PM
A former NHL referee is challenging his dismissal by the NHL, saying his firing was caused by his union work, rather than his on-ice performance.

Dean Warren's tenure in the NHL came to an end in April 2008, but as the New York Times reports, Warren has not taken it lying down.

According to Warren, the league fired him because of his activist stance as VP of the referee union, a violation of Ontario labor laws. Warren has taken his case before the Ontario Labor Relations Board and is not actually fighting for money. In fact, Warren was entitled to $250,000 if he accepted his dismissal. Instead, he just wants his old job back. From the Times:

"If you're an accountant and you get fired by a company, you can try to get work at another accounting company," Warren, 46, said. "But in this business, when they tap you on the shoulder and say you're gone, you're gone."
The NHL claims it fired Warren because of substandard performance. The league could be telling the truth, but you wouldn't expect it to claim any other reason. Here's where it gets murky for the NHL. Over his first five seasons, Warren worked more playoff games (16) than the four other referees who started in the 2000-01 season.

Aren't playoff games an indication of good performance?

Then after he was named union VP in September 2006, Warren received no more playoff games. Under the league's collective bargaining agreement with the referee union, a ref who is not chosen for the postseason for two consecutive years can be dismissed. That's what happened to Warren.

So from 16 over five years to none in the next two, coincidentally after the referee is named VP of the union? That does raise some eyebrows.

The Times puts in other rather potentially damaging quotes as well, from NHL vice president Colin Campbell and referee supervisor Stephen Walkom:

"Warren has to go," Campbell wrote to Walkom in February 2007. "There must be a way to get rid of this guy. Is there a way we could track total minors called by referees this year?"


Walkom replied: "I think we have that data but it may work in his favor. That's why I'm against data."


Now, that could mean they just thought he was a bad referee for legitimate reasons. However, one gets a different vibe from those quotes. Also, one has to love any quote by the referee supervisor who is against data in evaluation because it might not show the result he wants.

Does anyone else see a problem with here?

The newspaper also reports evaluations have been dropping steadily in number. Refs were evaluated 20-25 times a year back in 2004-05. Now they get looked at five times. Compared to the other three major sports, that's a paltry number. Consider an NBA referee is graded on every call he makes during the year. (Whether that makes a difference in the NBA is another story entirely.) Refs fear fewer samples make it more likely the league can get rid of the refs it doesn't like politically, rather than fairly evaluate performance.

Opinions are mixed on Warren as well. Paul Devorski, a 21-year vet, said Warren shouldn't have been an official. However, Kerry Fraser, a 30-year vet, thinks highly of Warren and does believe he was fired because "he was proactive as an executive on the union side."

Don't expect any further comments; the union has since barred commentary from its members on the subject. With the referees having to negotiate a new CBA for themselves at season's end, they don't need to ruffle any more feathers. By the way, Fraser is retiring at season's end. Devorski is not. Take that for what you will.

Whether or not the accusations are true, it appears this situation is a messy one for the NHL. There is enough evidence to believe Warren has a case, which is all that is necessary to start the negative PR train rolling.

Don't expect this one to be over quickly. Today's hearing is the first in a series, which will include three retiring referees testifying, including Fraser.

CONSPIRACY

[PhillyGirl]

offense is on FIRE.

[Munson]

22 goals in the last 3 and 2/3rds games

[PhillyGirl]

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
FSN Pittsburgh employee suspended

FSN Pittsburgh has suspended an employee, the son of a former Penguins player because of a goal-review incident last week against the Flyers at Mellon Arena, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Lowell MacDonald Jr., son of former Penguins player Lowell MacDonald and a member of FSN's telecast staff, was indefinitely suspended by the network. The controversy was a review of a play to determine if Simon Gagne scored a goal in the the second period of a Flyers' victory. FSN Pittsburgh had a replay that showed the puck crossing the goal line but the replay was not sent to the NHL review booth in Toronto. The replay was not aired on local television until after the review was concluded.

The Post-Gazette reported that in a statement, FSN Pittsburgh said, "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game. During last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a definitive replay of a Flyers goal was not aired prior to the conclusion of the official review and, as a result, a Flyers goal was not awarded. Fortunately, this did not change the outcome of the game. Nonetheless, FSN Pittsburgh's failure to provide video to the league officials in a timely fashion was wholly unacceptable. FSN Pittsburgh has addressed this matter and has taken steps to ensure that such a failure does not occur again."

The Penguins also issued a statement: "We fully support FSN Pittsburgh in its reaction to this issue. The integrity of the game is paramount."

[BigEd76]

up to 7th in the conference and 2 points out of 5th

[Sgt PSN]

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
FSN Pittsburgh employee suspended

FSN Pittsburgh has suspended an employee, the son of a former Penguins player because of a goal-review incident last week against the Flyers at Mellon Arena, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Lowell MacDonald Jr., son of former Penguins player Lowell MacDonald and a member of FSN's telecast staff, was indefinitely suspended by the network. The controversy was a review of a play to determine if Simon Gagne scored a goal in the the second period of a Flyers' victory. FSN Pittsburgh had a replay that showed the puck crossing the goal line but the replay was not sent to the NHL review booth in Toronto. The replay was not aired on local television until after the review was concluded.

The Post-Gazette reported that in a statement, FSN Pittsburgh said, "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game. During last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a definitive replay of a Flyers goal was not aired prior to the conclusion of the official review and, as a result, a Flyers goal was not awarded. Fortunately, this did not change the outcome of the game. Nonetheless, FSN Pittsburgh's failure to provide video to the league officials in a timely fashion was wholly unacceptable. FSN Pittsburgh has addressed this matter and has taken steps to ensure that such a failure does not occur again."

The Penguins also issued a statement: "We fully support FSN Pittsburgh in its reaction to this issue. The integrity of the game is paramount."

so let me get this straight.....the different camera angles seen by an official during replay are provided by some guy who works for the network broadcasting the game and not some sort of neutral league official?  no wonder hockey sucks. 

[LBIggle]

some dude was suspended so its all good now.

[Don Ho]

I am actually into these guys now.  WTF happened to me?  Something came over me Saturday night.

[ice grillin you]

i just thank god their number one pick wont be embarassingly high now...thats pretty much the goal of this season

[rjs246]

It's great how they're able to bunch 90% of their scoring into like 20% of their games.