Tampa's Jon Cooper got preferential treatment from the officials when challenging Colorado's first goal
Five minutes into game 3, it looked like the Avs took a 1-0 lead on another goal by Valeri Nichuskin. Initially ruled a good goal, the referees approached Jon Cooper asking if he wanted to challenge for an offside - as the Lightning players on the ice believed it was. After looking at a couple of angles, the broadcast appeared to show Cooper telling officials that he didn't want to challenge.
As they were about to drop the puck for the ensuing faceoff however, Cooper called the officials back over after seeing another replay and had a conversation with them while his assistants reviewed it again and again. After 80 seconds, Cooper decided to challenge the goal.
The review was discussed during the broadcast and Elliot Friedman said, "There are some coaches and maybe teams that might not have gotten such a benefit of the doubt as Tampa and Cooper."
I fully agree. The ref was ready and almost dropped the puck to begin play again after the goal and after Cooper initially said he didn't want to challenge. In total it was almost 2 minutes that Tampa had the officials at their bench waiting to see if a challenge was warranted.
I fully understand the league wanting to get the call right, but they should have a time limit for coaches to be able to issue a challenge. Give them 60 seconds after the play to review replays and make their decision. I highly doubt any other coach or team, after saying they didn't want to challenge would get a second chance to challenge before the puck is dropped.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 21 | 312 ANSWERS Tampa's Jon Cooper got preferential treatment from the officials when challenging Colorado's first goal Should the NHL put a time limit on coaches being able to challenge a call? | ||
| Yes | 267 | 85.6 % |
| No | 45 | 14.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
