Monday, April 30, 2012

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right


By Andrew McGilligan
SN Staff

So the finals are set. The Saint John Sea Dogs will take on the Rimouski Oceanic.

It’s hard to imagine the Oceanic were on anyone’s radar at the start of the season as a potential contender for the President’s Cup. However, great play from Alex Maillet, Alex Belzile, Petr Straka and Jerome Gauthier-Leduc has the team staring down the Sea Dogs.

However, the league didn’t end up with this final without giving itself a black eye.

The Halifax Mooseheads were ousted from the playoffs on Sunday after losing a hard fought game to Rimouski.

The Mooseheads did so without their captain Cameron Critchlow. He was suspended by the league for one game because of a play on Friday night.

Trying to spark his club in Rimouski , Critchlow got into a fight and was kicked out when the referee determined Critchlow removed the opponents helmet during the scrap.

A tough call for a referee to make, but if you watched the game, it certainly appeared like that’s what happened in real time. A replay later showed this was an incorrect call.

I’m not blaming the referee in this situation. That’s what he thought he saw and made the call. Tough one to make, but sometimes they get things wrong.

What I can’t excuse is the league upholding the ruling. The QMJHL brass had the chance to right the wrong and didn’t. Not surprising, but a bad decision given the implications. Halifax had to face elimination Sunday without its captain because of a penalty he did not commit.

What makes it even tougher to swallow for Moose fans is Critchlow has been tremendous when his team is facing elimination. Ask the Quebec Remparts who watched the New Brunswick native notch four in Game 7 at the Colisee.

I don’t mean this to diminish the accomplishments of the Oceanic. They deserved to advance and played a great series.

As for the QMJHL brass, here’s a simple truth that you should have learned as a child – two wrongs don’t make a right.

Photo Credit: @HalifaxMorphmen

5 comments:

  1. The fans of Halifax have had a Persecution Complex with the QMJHL since they entered the league, whether it be officiating, scheduling, not allowing Sidney Crosby to play for his hometown team as an under-ager. This will, no doubt, add fuel to the fire. In their opinion, it's too bad we don't have more centres that could support a team so we could breakaway and form a Maritime League--it would certainly balance the Memorial Cup--no host team gimme.

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  2. Heaven forbid there were 2 maritime teams in the finals...again.

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  3. Who cares if there are two Maritime teams in the finals or not...at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the team at the Memorial Cup....and for the 3rd straight year the Q champ will be an NB team.

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  4. Maybe it's time to form an Atlantic Canada league...I'm getting really tired of the Q favouring Quebec teams...

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  5. It would be nice if the Q would at least attempt to address some of the issues involved the appearance of bias toward Quebec teams. It's just accepted that when Saint John plays a team from Quebec it's going to be 5 on 7 hockey. there's seems to be no oversight with regards to the officiating which leaves the fans feeling angry and resentful toward the league.

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