STMA @ DENFELD 2/25 WHAT A GAME

[nhl_combine]

What a thriller of a game! STMA by far huge under dogs in this one, but never backed down.

From what I remember:

1 to 1 after the 1st

3 to 2 after 2. STMA in the lead

3 to 3 late in the 3rd

Denfeld scores with 37 seconds left to take the lead 4 to 3

STMA scores with like 12 seconds left to tie it 4 to 4

STMA goes short handed in the OT, Denfeld has the power play working down low, STMAs goalie goes down hard after a shot and doesn't move. It seemed as if the players paused to wait for a whistle for a brief second (as the puck goes to the corner) the play continues (STMAs goalie still down and not moving) and no whistle by the ref!? Denfeld gets the puck to the point and the defense scores on basically an empty net to win the game.....

I think everyone in the building felt the ref should've blown the whistle....

What were your thoughts on the game if you were there and what is the ruling on an injured player like that?

[mnwild5]

Sad way to end a great game. We were expecting the ref to blow the whistle.

[ilike2score]

I was at this game and your accounts are nearly accurate. I was seated behind the STMA goalie in OT. From my view yes he did go down and appeared definitely injured. My understanding of the rule is when a player is injured the whistle is not blown until a player on the same team touches the puck. In this game the Denfeld player sent the puck from below the goal line when the goalie was hurt out to the point who then fed Logan Talarico high in the slot who took one or two steps in and easily shelved it above the goalie who was on the ice. From my perspective It was a legal play. With that being said I do not agree with the rules regarding injured players. I tend to error on the side of caution when a kid may be hurt and believe the whistle should be blown immediately. In this game STMA did not touch the puck while their goalie was down...and about 5 seconds passed until the puck was in the net behind an injured goalie. I have seen a couple handful of similar plays in the last couple years at the youth level where broken bones were involved and the whistle was not blown as the injured players team did not have possession of the puck.

[fivehole628]

Tough way to lose... but way to go Denfeld!

[barnorthhockeyguy]

Great game by STMA ! Sure gave the hunters a scare. Good luck to the hunters satuday agianst St. Cloud.

[nhl_combine]

I still haven't got the exact rule for an injured player. I'm wondering if the refs really screwed STMA over on that.

I've tried finding a website with the official rules, but haven't had much luck....so if you can lead me in the right direction on that I'd appreciate it.

[gabbyman]

I still haven't got the exact rule for an injured player. I'm wondering if the refs really screwed STMA over on that.

I've tried finding a website with the official rules, but haven't had much luck....so if you can lead me in the right direction on that I'd appreciate it.

From rule book it says:

(e) When a player is injured so that he cannot continue play or
go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the
injured player’s team has secured possession of the puck; if
the player’s team is in possession of the puck at the time of
injury, play shall be stopped immediately, unless his team is
in a scoring position.
(Note) In the case where it is obvious that a player has
sustained a serious injury, the Referee and/or Linesman may
stop the play immediately.

Don't know how injured he looked or was so it is up to the referee's to decide to blow it or not. I would assume if he didn't move or try to get up in a certain amount of time that they would blow it dead. Either way it is hard to lose that way.

[wblhockeyfan8]

Tough loss.

The rule should really be changed regarding goalies, but then again, what happens if he continues to play after the whistle is blown. Did you just rob the opposing team of a scoring opportunity?

[dontcallmeshirley]

I know that play always stops if the goalie loses his helmet, it might have been more thinking than the guy was able to do, but if he was hurt he could have just whipped his bucket off. It probably would have been worth a delay of game penalty.

[royals03]

I think if it is the goalie that is hurt play should stop. Now I was not at the game, but it sounds like the puck went behind the net and sometime ran off the clock before anyone even picked it up. Now if that is true it does not sound as if the refs would have blown the whistle they would have taken a scoring opp. away. This is always a touchy subject because there are times players lay down on a solid hit because they are mad that they got hit so hard, then the ref blows the whistle and they pop right back up hoe aggravating. There should be also another rule in place that if a player goes down and makes it look serious so the ref blows the whistle and then pops up right away they receive an unsportsmanlike penalty or the other team gets to take a free shot at him.

[nhl_combine]

From rule book it says:

(e) When a player is injured so that he cannot continue play or
go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the
injured player’s team has secured possession of the puck; if
the player’s team is in possession of the puck at the time of
injury, play shall be stopped immediately, unless his team is
in a scoring position.
(Note) In the case where it is obvious that a player has
sustained a serious injury, the Referee and/or Linesman may
stop the play immediately.


So from what I understand here, it is up to the refs discretion of how it looks. And from what happened at the game, the goalie didn't move and the puck went to the corner right away. Therefore play "could" and probably "should" have been stopped dead.

Thank you for finding that.

And as cool as it would have been to see an upset, I think we can all agree that Denfeld vs Hermantown is going to be an awesome final.