GENE'S BLOG: Holy Goalie Interference

LOS ANGELES, CA - Imagine being at your desk. Your laptop is out. Phone parked beside it. Maybe you have a cup of coffee near. There might also be a pen next to it. Everything you might need to accomplish your job until people start invading your personal space. They start jostling you, bumping you, pulling your hands, pushing your shoulders all while you're still supposed to get your work done. Your boss walks by and you give him a look like, 'Are you going to do something about this?' He surveys the scenes, stares you right in the eyes, puts his palms up, shrugs and on his or her way he goes. Welcome to being a goalie in the NHL.

Alright, the NHL is doing much more than shrugging their shoulders. They are trying to fix, massage and straighten out what's going on with goalies and the interference they face in doing their jobs as masked men. Hockey is a contact sport. There will be contact but it's determining what is fair and unfair when it comes to a goalie doing the one thing he gets paid to do and that is to stop the puck.
There was another example of it Wednesday night for Edmonton versus Los Angeles. Cam Talbot was trying to stop Paul LaDue's shot but couldn't thanks to a screen. A good screen but maybe one that involved a little contact. Coach's challenge went out and the puck still was counted in. Another one bites the dust for Edmonton in a recurring theme this season.
In case you have forgotten and you likely haven't this is Edmonton's track record this season with goalie interference calls and challenges:
It ain't pretty and it doesn't look that way. The Oilers haven't won a single challenge they've issued or survived a challenge by the opposing team. Not good. That's why after Wednesday's game versus LA, Todd McLellan opined somewhat sarcastically if the winning goal happened two weeks ago, the result might have been a different story. To reiterate, the League is doing their best to solve the riddle of what is or isn't goaltending interference. You think they want this happening all around the League and sometimes on a nightly basis Absolutely not. But it's imperative some consistency develops so the resulting calls from the situation room should be almost predictable.
Ironically, the Oilers took their tough loss and traveled down the highway for a Friday night date with Anaheim. In the playoff series last season there was not one but two goalie interference situations that rattled Edmonton's playoff hopes. One was at home when Corey Perry connected with Cam Talbot's blocker and equipment. The goal stood. The other happened at the Honda Centre in Game 5. The Oilers, believing Ryan Kesler turned the Edmonton netminder's 5-hole into a 10-hole thanks to a glove pushing his pad. Rickard Rakell's tying goal stood and the aforementioned Perry won it in double OT. Taking into account this season's results and what happened last postseason, it would be natural if Edmonton felt like they were being picked on. They aren't but the Oilers also must be hoping with points at a premium that upcoming goalie interference calls start going their way.