×

Thinking It Through: UMD Battles Back After Disallowed Goal to Win Series

By Bruce Ciskie Jan 16, 2022 | 5:04 PM

There’s no reason to beat around the bush. We all know the A-topic after Saturday’s 2-2 tie between UMD and Miami at Amsoil Arena.

And, trust me, it’s the last thing any of us want to spend any time on. It’s the last thing anyone involved with the sport wants anyone to talk about.

But yet here we are.

Less than seven minutes into the third period Saturday, with Miami clinging to a 2-1 lead despite being almost completely dominated by UMD, the Bulldogs thought for a split-second they had tied the game. Kobe Roth deposited a loose puck he found in the slot as Noah Cates provided a screen on Miami goalie Ludvig Persson.

Here’s the rule on goalie interference in college hockey, direct from the rulebook:

The overriding rationale of this rule is that a goalkeeper should have the ability to move freely within the goal crease without being hindered by the actions of an attacking player. However, an attacking player’s position, whether inside or outside the crease, should not, by itself, determine whether a goal should be allowed or disallowed. In other words, goals scored while attacking players are standing in the crease may, in appropriate circumstances, be allowed.

Goals should be disallowed only if an attacking player, either by positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to defend the goal.

If an attacking player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by a defending player and causes contact with the goalkeeper, such contact will not be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.

If a defending player has been pushed, shoved, or fouled by an attacking player so as to cause the defending player to come into contact with the goalkeeper, such contact shall be deemed contact initiated by the attacking player for purposes of this rule, and if necessary, a penalty assessed to the attacking player and if a goal is scored, it shall be disallowed.

The above clip doesn’t show the overhead, which we had the ability to see in the booth.

There’s contact with Cates and Persson, yes, but it’s not a lot, and the quick wave-off is a marginal call, at best. Persson’s ability to defend the goal appears to not be in any way compromised, and Cates is bumped (slightly, yes, but there’s contact) by the Miami defender.

(Not to mention it’s clear Cates is doing everything he can to avoid bumping Persson.)

UMD coach Scott Sandelin challenged the no-goal call, but the officials gave it only a cursory look before confirming the call and trying to get on with the game. Having gotten no explanation from the officials after their short review, Sandelin was incensed. To the point where he received a bench minor, something I am very confident I have not seen in the over 600 games I’ve called with Sandelin running the UMD bench.

“I didn’t (get an explanation), that’s why I got a penalty,” said Sandelin after the game. “Because he wouldn’t come over and tell me.”

There’s a lot to unpack here. The call itself is, to be completely honest, defensible but marginal. Like, if that’s the standard going forward, we’re going to see a hell of a lot of disallowed goals, and I’m highly confident no one in the game wants that to happen.

“I thought Cates did a good job to get back out of the way, and hold his ground,” Sandelin said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with the goal.”

By no means am I going to defend Sandelin getting a bench minor. I can only imagine what he said, and I’m sure it wasn’t pretty. But there’s likely no bench minor if 1) the officials had done what they do a very high percentage of the time after a call like that on a bang-bang play, and that’s look at the replay without waiting for a challenge; 2) they had spent more than a few seconds looking at the play after the challenge was issued; or 3) they had gone to Sandelin after upholding the call on the ice to explain why.

“All I wanted was an explanation after that,” said Sandelin, “and obviously I didn’t get one.”

We aren’t asking for games to be interrupted for five minutes so we can watch coaches and officials argue. I’m certain no one wants to see that, and the officials and coaches don’t want to experience it. However, if an official is going to take a goal off the board, and barely bother to look at the replay after a team risks its timeout to challenge the call, that official owes it to the head coach to give him an explanation of the call. Especially if that official is not going to use the microphone he is literally wearing to explain the call to the people who paid money to watch the game.

(Sandelin also bemoaned the bench minor itself to an extent, saying officials will normally tell a coach “Hey, that’s enough,” or something like that, as a means of warning them to cool it. Sandelin said such a thing did not happen before he received his penalty on Saturday.)

And “After review, the call on the ice stands, no goal” is not an explanation. Everyone in the building deserves better than that, including Sandelin and his team. As someone who was a longtime advocate for having the referees wear microphones, this is infuriating. And it happens everywhere.

(One more thing: I’ve advocated in the past, and probably will again at some point, for shorter video reviews. The process needs to be streamlined. However, it isn’t exaggerating to say that the officials in the UMD-Denver series spent more time trying to find a hit by UMD’s Koby Bender that Denver coach David Carle challenged as a hit to the head. There was no camera angle that showed the hit — it was that far behind the play. They kept trying to find it, though. The mind-reader in me believes this was part of why Sandelin was so upset. He challenged the call on the ice and didn’t feel like he got the same courtesy.)

******

As for the game, Persson was the story. Before Friday’s game, Sandelin talked about how Miami’s talent level and record “didn’t make any sense.” Persson, who had a great freshman season, was a great example of it, carrying a goals against over 4.00 into the weekend series. But Sandelin knew he was a guy capable of stealing games for the RedHawks, and he nearly did on Saturday.

UMD did a lot of good things. The Bulldogs generated a strong forecheck, had the puck nearly the whole game, gave Miami virtually nothing, and had a huge advantage in scoring chances.

“I asked our guys to play better for three periods, and I thought we did that,” Sandelin said. “I liked our game. Their goalie was the difference, which he’s capable of. We’ve got to be a little bit better around the net, better on second and third opportunities.

“I was pleased with some of the things we did. The result wasn’t what we wanted.”

Persson made 50 saves, and UMD was stymied for much of the night. That said, the Bulldogs played a disciplined game (in more ways than one, as the bench minor was UMD’s only penalty). Miami’s general lack of great scoring chances was a testament to that discipline. Sandelin has talked numerous times about the importance of not forgoing defensive responsibilities while pressing to score at the other end, and it never really felt like UMD was doing that. Yes, Miami made a couple plays here and there, but they were very few and far between because UMD’s overall effort was so good.

Roth, who had a game-high eight shots, getting the equalizer was fitting after he had that earlier goal taken away. It was also, in a way, fitting that UMD couldn’t score on a four-on-three power play in overtime despite a couple really good looks. It was that kind of night.

At the end of it all, four points out of six won’t be turned down. The Bulldogs have 14 games left in the regular season, and find themselves tied for second in the NCHC. Nothing wrong with that, especially considering the amount of head-to-head coming with teams around UMD in the standings (four games with St. Cloud, two with UND, Western, Denver, and Omaha).

******

The UMD women picked up a key WCHA sweep of Bemidji State, capping it with a 3-0 win Saturday afternoon. Saturday was also a Hockey Hits Back event, as UMD partnered with Sophie’s Squad to raise mental health awareness.

That portion of the event was a tremendous success.

Great job by everyone involved, namely UMD senior Gabbie Hughes and her family. Hughes has become a spokesperson for Sophie’s Squad, along with being its youngest board member. Clearly playing with a heavy heart Saturday, Hughes honored her late friend with an outstanding game. She assisted on each of UMD’s goals and was a force whenever she was on the ice.

The wins keep UMD in fourth in the WCHA, and the Bulldogs pulled a little closer to third-place Minnesota when the Gophers had their 53-game winning streak against Minnesota State snapped Saturday evening in Minneapolis.

UMD faces Ohio State, which is tied with Wisconsin for first in the league standings, Friday and Saturday in Columbus.

******

The UMD men hit the road this weekend for a battle with Omaha. It will be the Bulldogs’ first trek to Omaha since the NCHC Pod in December 2020. This time, UMD won’t need to spend three weeks in Omaha. It’ll be three days, instead.

As this blog goes to press, Omaha is two hours away from a series finale in Denver. The Mavericks sit in sixth in the league standings, one point back of St. Cloud State and six back of the second-place tie between UMD, Denver, and Western Michigan.

Barring news, I’ll be back Thursday with a preview.

Comments

Leave a Reply

The KDAL Morning Show
6:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Current Weather »

Duluth, MN
Duluth, MN, USA
-1 °F Clear