The NHL Needs To Can Offside Challenges

Sunday night saw yet another highly embarrassing moment for the NHL when Nashville’s fifth goal was allowed to stand. That goal, scored on the powerplay, turned out to be the game winning tally in what was a wildly entertaining tilt. The regulation loss put Edmonton back with the pack in the playoff race and helped Nashville maintain a postseason position.

While it seemed like a minor call, this decision to allow a goal that was offside to stand had a major impact on the result and has impacted the playoff race. A ticky-tacky call like that should NEVER be the deciding factor in a key game, but that was exactly the case on Sunday night. It was a highly embarrassing moment for the NHL, and quite frankly it has me mad.

Less than a week ago, the Oilers had a goal taken off the board in Tampa Bay because the play was deemed offside. While that call is correct, Edmonton entered the zone offside, McDavid is off by what appears to be an inch. It’s the slimmest of margins and is no way apparent to the naked eye. The video is here.

Last night’s blown call, which is here, shows Viktor Arvidsson clearly offside when the Predators enter the zone, and by a wider margin than McDavid last Tuesday night. That said, even after a five minute review and multiple angles proving the play was offside, the NHL deemed the evidence inconclusive and ruled it a good goal.

@OilersNation not off side? WTF pic.twitter.com/YbdkYqh7df

— Dave Mckinnon (@djmckinnon80) February 27, 2017

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I’m on the record saying that the offside challenge sucks. For a league constantly complaining about a lack of offense, allowing coaches to challenge these plays is to me, absurd. These inches really mean nothing to the play, and the NHL should be letting it go. The only coach’s challenge I want to see are goalie interference challenges. That’s it.

My distaste towards this gimmicky aspect of the game is only enhanced when the NHL can’t even get it right. If you want to nitpick every single offside then that’s fine, but you damn well better get every single one correct. On Sunday night, the NHL got a pretty easy one wrong, and fair or not it cost the Edmonton Oilers at least one point in Nashville.

That, to me, is completely unacceptable. If you aren’t even going to get it right every time, then get rid of the stupid challenge all together and let’s breathe a little more offense into the game. No one wants a five minute delay to see if a skate was in the air an inch over the blue line, seriously, enough already. Kill the offside challenge and move on.

Derek Ryan?:

The Carolina Hurricanes will, without doubt, be a seller heading into Wednesday’s trade deadline. The team has already dumped veteran Ron Hainsey to Pittsburgh, and I’d be stunned if they didn’t move out a few more bodies before closing time in just about 48 hours.

One player that could be of interest to Edmonton? Former U of A center Derek Ryan. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug pointed out the possibility late last week.

Derek Ryan is interesting. 57 % in faceoff circle, 2:20 per game on PP, 8 goals this season and 600k. Checks a lot of boxes for Oil as 3/4LC

— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) February 24, 2017

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While Ryan has been good in the faceoff circle and has contributed on the powerplay, I’m not certain of his value as a 3rd line pivot in the west. In 43 games, the Spokane native has registered 8-10-18 and a -11 rating with the Canes.

Ryan has gone 14 straight games without a point, and hasn’t scored a goal since January 10th against Columbus. His ice time has fallen from about 16 minutes a night in January to 14 minutes a night in February, and he was benched and held to just over nine minutes in Carolina’s loss to Pittsburgh last week.

It seems like, after a hot streak earlier this season, Ryan has cooled down considerably and has regressed to what he is; a replacement level player. While the price is likely to be cheap, I’d stay away from Ryan if I were Peter Chiarelli.

Random Notes:

• Carolina may be willing to move on from defender Justin Faulk according to reports. If that is the case, I’d be willing to move Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for him right now. Faulk is having a down year but is an elite offensive defender and a right shot. Offense is easier to find than defense, Faulk would be a great get for Edmonton.
• I think we should prepare for a Jesse Puljujarvi recall at some point in March. JP is now dominating the AHL, as he has settled into a top line role for the Condors during their playoff push. Overall, Puljujarvi is at 7-9-16 in 19 tilts. I suspect he passes a point-per-game pretty soon.
• Personally, I don’t agree with the Kings’ decision to part with assets to acquire Ben Bishop. That said, the most surprising move is the return Arizona got for Martin Hanzal. A first, second and another pick is a lot for two rental players, and Ryan White isn’t anything to write home about. If that is the price for Kevin Shattenkirk, well Oiler fans can forget that pipe dream.
• Speaking of Minnesota, I think it’s safe to take them out of the Brian Boyle market. That should benefit the Oilers as suitors begin to dwindle for the big pivot out of Tampa Bay.