Reviews Are All the Rage

He shoots, he scores!

Or should that be, “He shoots, he waits for the video review!”

Four games into the intense and evenly matched first-round playoff series between the Mighty Ducks and the Phoenix Coyotes that continues with Game 5 tonight at the Pond, the controversy over the spate of disallowed goals against both teams is only growing.

“Why have a goal light? Do it all by video review,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said in exasperation Wednesday, the day after a 2-0 loss in Game 4--a game that turned when Steve Rucchin’s apparent goal with eight minutes left in a scoreless game was disallowed because winger Brian Bellows had one skate in the corner of the crease.

The scene is being played out all around the Stanley Cup playoffs: A goalie turns to see the puck in the back of the net, the crowd reacts, then suddenly quiets because the referee has a telephone to his ear, calling upstairs to the video goal judge.

“This is the thing everybody is talking about,” Wilson said. “What if it’s the big goal deciding the Stanley Cup?

If things don’t change, the most memorable phrases of the Duck-Coyote series are going to be “There was a man in the crease” and “The whistle had blown.”

“The way this series has gone, until the puck’s dropped, there’s no sense in rejoicing over a goal,” Duck winger Ken Baumgartner said.

No sense in dwelling too long on the ones that don’t count either, but that’s easier said than done.

“It’s water under the bridge,” Wilson said. “It was still 0-0. We let it affect us [and Phoenix scored 47 seconds later]. We had guys still yelling at the linesman.”

The NHL has used video replays since the 1991-92 season, but its new zero-tolerance enforcement of the in-the-crease rule--a judgment call before this season--is the reason for most of the called-back goals. If even the tip of a skate is in the goalies’ crease before the puck, the goal isn’t supposed to count under the league’s black-and-white interpretation.

To Wilson, that’s a little like disallowing two points in basketball because a video review shows a three-second violation nobody noticed. And in what he calls “a huge loophole” in the crease rule, the referee isn’t allowed to ask the video goal judge reviewing the play whether the player was pushed into the crease or kept from leaving it--only if he is in it.

The NHL has kept a hard-line stance all season, even though many people believe the crease rule, not just superior goaltending, is a main reason scoring was down this season. It’s a rule that figures to face opposition from the NHL Players Assn. and the general managers this summer.

“I think it will be real interesting after the playoffs,” Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira said.

Rucchin’s washed-out goal was the most controversial so far in a series that has had a crucial goal washed out in every game.

In Game 1, a 4-2 Duck victory, an apparent goal by the Coyotes’ Mike Gartner didn’t count because the referee lost sight of the puck and blew his whistle while the puck was still free.

In Game 2, another 4-2 Duck victory, Gartner was in the crease when Cliff Ronning scored, and the disallowed goal cost Phoenix a chance to take the lead.

In Game 3, a 4-1 Coyote victory, it was the Ducks’ turn, when a goal by Bellows was disallowed because of another quick whistle after a referee lost sight of the puck.

“If you add up the calls that have gone against us and the calls that have gone for us, they probably all evened out,” Phoenix Coach Don Hay said. “It’s been a season of the in-the-crease rule.”

Wilson’s complaint after Game 4 wasn’t about the crease rule itself; he contends that Coyote captain Keith Tkachuk “accosted” linesman Gord Broseker and persuaded him to tell referee Stephen Walkom to ask for a review.

Only the referee is allowed to request a review, not the coaches or players, and linesmen can only suggest it.

“The linesman made the call,” Tkachuk said. “When do they listen to a player anyway?”

Wilson isn’t convinced.

“[Broseker] said, ‘Phoenix requested a video review,’ ” Wilson said. “That’s when I snapped.

“The fact that Brian Bellows is in the crease, I can’t dispute . . . But with the delay, it certainly appears to me that Keith Tkachuk badgered them into going upstairs.

“I can debate if he was in there 1/100th of a second or by a toenail. . . . [But] the ref already said it was a goal. He was in perfect position, and he said, ‘Goal, No. 20,’ and positioned himself for the faceoff.”

Wilson’s own video review showed that 1:05 elapsed between the goal and Walkom’s request for a review after the linesman spoke to him.

The Ducks aren’t letting go of their complaint easily, even though there is no possibility of a reversal.

Wilson called NHL senior vice president Brian Burke on Wednesday and said the league is “looking into the matter.” Burke and Bryan Lewis, NHL supervisor of officials, have scheduled a media conference call for today because of the disallowed-goals issue, which already has affected a number of series.

Phoenix General Manager Bobby Smith suggested the Ducks are trying to get an edge in officiating the rest of the series--especially because Wilson, Ferreira and club President Tony Tavares held a heated discussion after Game 4 with Lewis.

“I know when the president of the team and the general manager and the coach are waiting to speak to the supervisor, they’re not hoping to get the call reversed,” Smith told the Arizona Republic. “They’re hoping it will influence the next game. There’s no question they want to portray the Ducks as a team that has been slighted in Games 3 and 4 of this series. . . . [But] this series should be tied, 2-2. We have the same right to feel as if we didn’t get a break.”

Wilson fixated on the absurdity of it all--especially because some of the clamoring for replays starts when players and coaches look up at the scoreboard video.

“It’s almost embarrassing. You get scored against, and it’s ‘Check the replay, check the replay,’ ” Wilson said. “The other team scores, you almost snicker, praying please, somebody be in the crease. I hate to think like that. . . . It’s a goal as far as I’m concerned. The next thing, you see them making a phone call, and you think, ‘Oh, we might get lucky.’ ”

Once the referee makes a phone call, chances are good the goal won’t count.

“Our fans might as well chant, ‘Re-play, Re-play!’ ” Wilson said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Mighty Ducks vs. Phoenix

* Game 1: Mighty Ducks, 4-2

* Game 2: Mighty Ducks, 4-2

* Game 3: Coyotes, 4-1

* Game 4: Coyotes, 2-0

* Today: Pond, 7:30 p.m.

* Sunday: at Phoenix, noon

* Tuesday: Pond, 7:30 p.m.*

* if necessary