Brind’Amour fined $25,000 for criticizing refs
The National Hockey League has finally been able to start their annual playoffs, nearly five months after they were originally expected to take place. The time off though has not taken away from the intensity at all, with teams still battling for the game’s most prestigious prize – the Stanley Cup.
On Wednesday, the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins met in the first game of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series with the Bruins pulling off a close 4-3 win in double overtime. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour was fuming after the contest though, as he criticized the referees for the way they handled a crucial call in the game. With the scored tied at 1-1 in the second period, Carolina goaltender Petr Mrazek seemed to freeze the puck before losing control and allowing Charlie Coyle to score on an empty net.
Brind’Amour was so upset that when he was not asked about the incident in the post-game Zoom press conference, he decided to call local beat reporters to tell them exactly how he felt. “This is why the league’s a joke, in my opinion, on these things,” Brind’Amour told The News & Observer, via ESPN. “That one is a crime scene.”
Brind’Amour did have the ability to challenge the call, but neither referee Chris Lee nor Francis Charron gave him any information about the call. As a result, Brind’Amour chose to challenge the apparent hand pass on the goal instead of the non-stoppage. The hand pass was wiped out as it was determined that Mrazek controlled the puck, leaving the Hurricanes out of luck and the goal to stand.
“They came to me, and I said, ‘If he has possession of it, then it’s goalie interference. If he doesn’t have possession, then it’s a hand pass. It’s one of the two. I don’t know what you’re calling on the ice,'” Brind’Amour told The News & Observer of what he said to the officials, via ESPN. “All he has to do is tell me, ‘We’re calling it non-possession [by Mrazek],’ then we’re challenging a glove-hand pass. If it’s possession, then goaltender interference. I said, ‘Tell me the call on the ice.’ They wouldn’t do it when I said, ‘What is the call?’ So I had to flip a coin.”
It seems absurd that if a coach decides to challenge one call on the ice, the overall play would not be re-looked at but those are the current replay rules that the NHL has in place. Brind’Amour has a case though when it comes to the lack of communication on the ice from the referees.
“It should be so easy,” Brind’Amour said. “If they said the goalie had it, then it’s an easy call. They wouldn’t tell you. It makes no sense. I know we weren’t the better team, but if that goal doesn’t go in, do we win that game? I don’t know.”
Regardless of whether the referees were right or wrong in their decision, the league did not take very kindly to Brind’Amour’s words and have decided to fine the head coach $25,000 “which will be collected, in addition to any subsequent discipline, in the event of similar inappropriate behavior through Aug. 12, 2021.”
Brind’Amour won’t have too much time to think about the incident or the fine though as the Hurricanes take on the Bruins again on Thursday evening in Toronto.
