Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper was nervous about winning the NHL fourth final. Cooper said the verdict went wrong because Colorado had six players on the ice at the time it was born. The NHL rules disagree.
Colorado Avalanche Nazem Kadri became the hero of his team in the 4th final of the NHL in Tampa. Kadri scored a decisive victory in the playoffs for the Tampa Bay Lightning net.
Head coach of Tampa Bay Jon Cooper was in a post-match press conference sorry for their players, but not just for losing a tough fight.
– It’s very difficult for me to talk about this, I’ll talk to you properly tomorrow. You see what I mean when you look at their (Colorado) victory goal, Cooper started his press conference with a lip-twitch.
– My heart breaks for my players. We should probably be still playing, he quit and announced he would continue later.
According to Cooper and his coaching team, Colorado’s winning goal should not have been accepted because Colorado had six players on the field. Nathan MacKinnon was on the way to Kadri when he was replaced by ice.
MacKinnon also received a plus mark on the scoring record for the winning goal. In the minutes, six field players were listed for Colorado, but the entry was corrected later.
The paint still complies with NHL rules.
Watch the turbulent situation in the video in the main picture of this story.
The rules overturn Cooper’s argument
The argument based on the “too many players on the ice” penalty raised by Cooper’s coaching team is rebutted by a number of different rules.
Section 74.1 of the NHL Rules states that when a player leaves the playing area and is five feet (152 centimeters) away from his substitute bench, he is counted as a player who is not affected by the game. The player who has been replaced may then be on the ice and the situation will not be condemned to cool.
If the puck were playable by the player leaving the substitution and he touched it, he would be the player influencing the game. At that time, the situation would be punished. In the decisive hand of the Stanley Cup final, MacKinnon is meters away from the puck and in pain is trying to get a substitution.
According to the rules, Tampa’s head coach Cooper could not have challenged the goal. Section 38.2 of the NHL Rules discusses the reasons a coach may challenge a goal award. One of these reasons is the so-called “unrealized interruption”, defined as a situation in which the offensive team’s goal is scored in its area of attack so that the defending team believes the situation should have been interrupted by the offensive team’s offense.
This reason does not apply to Kadri’s goal, as MacKinnon’s exchange took place in the central area, which is a neutral area, and not part of the attacking area.
Section 37.3 of the rulebook, for its part, lists the reasons why the situation room in the series could look at a possible rejection of the goal from the video. The reasons do not include the “too many players on the field” situation.
Kadri: “Pulinat away”
The opening of an experienced Tampa Bay head coach has also been branded as a skilled media game that draws the attention of others to an insignificant point and gives the team peace.
Cooper has also been recorded to be doubly moral about his “too many players on the field” throw. Tampa Bay has seven players on the field a moment ahead of Kadri’s goal, according to the logic presented by the head coach.
Kadri, who scored the winning goal, was a bit confused, but also a bit mischievous about the situation.
Tampa Bay and Colorado will next meet Finnish time on Saturday morning.