Quote Originally Posted by thornton6:
I really dont buy the to many players around Mier explanation. You have 4 sets of eyes on the ice that's plenty. The last reason some ref which is the back ref is suppose to follow the play so he should have seen that. No excuse for the refs on this one.
Maybe, maybe not...but from looking at multiple replays from all angles let's look at where all the refs are positioned.
O-zone ref - behind the goal line, opposite corner of the ice from the play.
Neutral zone ref - basically at centre ice in the face-off circle.
1st linesman - blue line, on the boards, same side of ice as the play.
2nd linesman - centre red line, on the boards, opposite side of ice.
As Meier was driving in and the puck went up in the air he was mostly facing the end boards. As he didn't take a huge wind up and swipe with his whole arm, it was a more subtle motion, all 3 refs (all except the o-zone ref) behind the play are already at least partially if not completely obstructed from seeing it clearly by Meier's body. Add in Bouwmeester who is pretty close to Meier and behind him and his body would further obstruct the centre ice linesman and centre ice ref. There is also a Blues player standing basically on the same-side face-off dot behind Meier on the other side that looks to be at the right angle to be blocking the linesman who would be standing by the boards on the blue line.
So that basically leaves the O-zone ref as the closest to the play that would hopefully have a good view of it. Well remember he is on the opposite side of the ice behind the goal line so from where Meier makes the hand pass he has the net and Binnington directly in between him and the play. Usually it probably wouldn't be a problem with the height of the net at 4 feet and the height of players and their arms, but Meier has fallen to his knees when he makes the hand pass so being lower affects the angle and the net/goalie obstruction could come into play. And then to top it off, Brayden Schenn is standing directly in line between Meier and the ref at the time of hand pass as well.
With the rules as written right now (say what you will about them) the refs can only call what they actually see. They can't guess, they can't assume, they can't use reasonable deduction to say "yeah this is what likely happened so let's just make the call even though we didn't actually see it". And only certain things are reviewable. It's unfortunate but it's the way it is right now.
You say 4 sets of eyes should be enough, and while it usually is 95% of the time, reality is things are still going to be missed. Go back to the original post of this thread...the clear and obviously missed over the glass call. 4 sets of eyes wasn't enough on that one either.
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