When Matt Duchene scored a mile offside 12 years ago, I was screaming bloody murder for the NHL to implement some sort of offside goal review. The ante was raised when referees missed Danny Briere doing the same thing in a crucial playoff matchup. How could something as important as the Stanley freaking Cup be influenced by such a critical missed call in an age when instant replay was so readily available?
Fast forward to today, and the coach’s challenges for offside have become a detriment to the sport. If it takes more than 10 minutes to determine whether a player was offside, just hang up the phone. Games are being halted for extended periods over fractions of an inch barely detectable to the human eye. In theory, offside should be black and white: either you’re over the blue line before the puck crosses, or you’re not.
I’d rather see an illegal goal stand than watch one wiped off the board because someone’s right big toe crossed the blueline 45 seconds earlier on a play that has nothing to do with the goal itself. Sue me.
