Red Wings' Coach Derek Lalonde Is All Of Us Trying To Figure Out "What The Fuck Is Goaltender Interference"
"You gotta be fucking kidding me! What the fuck is goaltender interference? What the fuck! What the fuck is going on here? What the fuck is going on?"
If you haven't uttered that same exact sequence of words to yourself before, then you've never watched a hockey game before. Because nobody on planet Earth can definitively tell you what goaltender interference in the NHL actually is right now other than a coin flip when the refs call up to the situation room. Here's what the rulebook says;
"For purposes of this rule, “contact,” whether incidental or otherwise, shall mean any contact that is made between or among a goalkeeper and attacking player(s), whether by means of a stick or any part of the body. The overriding rationale of this rule is that a goalkeeper should have the ability to move freely within his goal crease without being hindered by the actions of an attacking player. If an attacking player enters the goal crease and, by his actions, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.
Now I don't know but it looks to me like Zucker's stick clearly pushes Nedeljkovic's pad backwards into the net. Was it enough to constitute as goaltender interference? Maybe yes, maybe no. I honestly have no idea. But that's not the issue here. The issue is that at some point down the line, this exact scenario will end up getting ruled as goaltender interference and the goal will be disallowed. It'll probably happen in the next 3-5 business days. And if the Hockey Gods work the way I think they do, it'll most likely end up being the Red Wings who get a goal disallowed for this exact same scenario. Then Derek Lalonde is REALLY going to lose his shit.
The inconsistency of the whole thing is just pure chaos and anarchy. It seems like it all just depends on how much paperwork the refs want to fill out at the end of the night. On the back end of a long trip and they're just looking to get back home to the family? Good goal, keep it pushing. Your ex-wife leave you for a guy who's a fan of the scoring team? Not so fast buddy, the call on the ice is overturned. Got a little too drunk the night before and now you are hungover as balls on the ice and can't make up your mind? Just flip a coin.
Derek Lalonde speaks for all of us when he asks the simple question, "what the fuck is going on here?". Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever get an actual answer.