Sorry, Isles, refs made right calls

Jim, have you ever heard the saying that goes something like"if you tell a lie long enough it becomes the truth". I have the 1980 goal on my DVR. I have slowed it many times frame by frame. Bobby Nystrom was not off side. Actually, not even close.

Ok, what would you expect from a former
NHL linesmen. He isn't going to say that
the guys blew some calls. Even the folks
on VS and Multman said that the Robitille
call was questionable. I don't have a
problem with the calls made but the calls
not made, Cashin gets hit from behind,
again no call. Symth is held behind the
net again no call, Camp gets pulled down
late in the game and no call.
If the Isles fart to close to the Sabers
they get a pen. Leon to say your happy
with the way the game was called last night
means that you where either watching the
79 Flyer Isles game six or sleeping.

I got hit with a beer bottle last night. They are friggin' plastic. They don't hurt. Relax with the "someone could have been seriously hurt" BS.

As a former NHL official and current Supervisor of officials, Mr. Stickle is not going to rip the officials in the media. Does Mr. Baumbach really believe that Stickle would tell him on the record if he was unhappy with the officials? I watched the game with a former NHL referree and he opined the officiating was less than stellar. It was just like it always is TERRIBLE. Teams that win in the playoffs rise above the incompetance of the officials and play the game. The Islanders need to address what they can control and not worry about the officiating.

Jim,

Did you ask Stickle about the obvious boarding/interference, take your pick, on Yashin. If he is going to tell you that the rule on high sticking is an automatic 4 minutes, which I acknowledge, would he also say that hitting a player from behind in a compromising position a few feet from the boards without the puck is both boarding and interference? That should have been 4 minutes right there. Did you not ask that question, or did he choose not to answer it?

The call with 1 minute left was a penalty. I do understand fans and players concerns over the horrid officiating, but that was a trip. The first 8 minutes, they let TONS of stuff go: hooks, holds, too many men on the ice.

I don't know what game you were watching, but Robitaille didn't pull anyones legs out from them. The only person tripped was Ryan Smyth in the corner. I think the 5 minute penalty to Chris Simon is just about over, how about letting us play even strength for a while.

Imagine that -- an NHL supervisor of officials thinks the officials did a good job. Shocking news. What great investigative reporting Jim, you really broke some news here!

Leon you need to put your contact lenses in before you go to the hockey game not afer you get home and watch it on ESPN. I would think in the playoffs the Refs would let the better team decide the outcome and not call A BS penalty like the one on Poti for high sticking. At the very least they should have called the other player for roughing which would NOT have lead to a 2 man advantage and a sure goal for Buffalo. In addition to call that other penalty with minutes remaining was in poor judgement again DURING the playoffs. Maybe all the Islander Fans are crying over the poor job that the refs are doing or just maybe the Refs ARE doing a crappy job. My personal opinion is let the players play unless its something very OBVIOUS that MUST be called. Again it's just my opinion but I feel the Islanders have gotten the short end of the stick A LOT this year.....Maybe "they" don't like that Wang brought Nolan back into the NHL....Maybe it's that Wang does whatever he wants to do.......I don't know but I try to be objective and I think we are on the minus side of most calls......

Of course they are happy with the calls. Do you think they want YET ANOTHER black eye to the sport?? PATHETIC OFFICIATING. Same nonsense in 2004 against Toronto. No call against Tucker for that ATROIOUS ILLEGAL hit??

The NHL is a pathetically runned league.

Oh and another thing Mr Know-it-all Newsday reporter, I'm glad the fans littered the ice. I just wish they would have hit one of those pathetic referees. If you want to go against the local team maybe Newsday isnt a good place for you to work.

The league is happy with the officiating? This coming from a bunch of morons who didnt suspend Darcy Tucker for the vicious illegal hit against Mike Peca in the 2004 playoffs. This league has absolutely no credibility and I have no confidence it made the right calls this time.

I just read this article and I'm still trying to figure out what game Baumbach was watching , let alone his stupid comments about game 6 in 1980. I too have that on video and there was NO offsides on that play.

But back to last night. For a long time , I thought the conspiracists (you know, the folk who think the Islanders are a target of Colin Campbell and the rest of the NHL) were just a tad over the top. After seeing this game in person last night, I'm not sure they're all that wrong considering the horrid officiating last night.
Bottom line, there was no direct visual evidence that the puck was over the line and the video which they ultimately used to decide this was blurry/grainy at best. If the goalie is obstructing the overhead cam, and the call is made one way, the NHL shouldn't over rule the call, PERIOD.

is this moron kidding me? what game were you wacthing pal? i guess we know you're a Blueskirt fan. do us a favor and resign, you're work is pathetic.

Leon can be diplomatic all he wants in the press about his refs' performance. The true test whether or not Steve Walkoum believes the refs did a good job last night is if these jokers move on to officiate in the next round or not.

The black eye to hockey last night was the atrocious behavior of the fans who threw things onto the ice. All of those people should be ashamed of themselves and should have the good sense to never go to a game again. Those people are not true sports fans and no nothing of good sportsmanship.

I hope i never see another phony Icelander fan preaching about how bad Ranger fans are again. Last night just adds to the fact that the Islanders have classless fans and play in a dump. Have a nice Summer losers

it's simple. do you think the league wants the isles, who don't sell out at home most nights and squeaked into the playoffs, to lose to the sabres, who won the president's trophy and sell out all home games?

If the Isles won the series, it would make the regular season look like a joke. which, of course, it is.

C'mon Islander fans, show some dignity. The whining about the refs just might seep into the team's attitude if you don't stop.

This is a very good team that has a chance at upsetting Buffalo. They will not be able to pull it off while feeling sorry for themselves as the victims of poor officiating.

Jim you really are a pretty poor reporter. You spoke to an ex-official, who hasn't ref'd a game with the new rules. The problem with the officiating is that it is not consistent. You can't have one team being penalized for something you let go the other way. Mistakes are part of the game, but when they are one sided on a regular basis there is a problem. The officiating from top to bottom needs to be revamped. There can be no more officiating based on a temas sweater. Under the league's own rules that should never been a goal. The league must review the game without bias and be prepared to refund the fans or face a class action suit if appropriate.