I can't tell you how many emails i've recieved today about the Panthers loss last night. I can't tell you the number of blogs I've read today by angry Panthers' fans. I'm going to call a blogger out right now, in fact...
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=10356
Never have I read more of an annoying blog in my life. Yes, I'm a Leaf fan, but I'm also a hockey fan, and I watched the game last night as a hockey fan.
Did White deserve a penalty? Probably, but here is my problem with all the whiners today. Exactly after this White/Stumpel incident happened, Jay Bouwmeester almost ended the goal, but was robbed by a great/lucky save by Vesa Toskala (yes, he did get a piece of the puck, i've watched it over and over to be sure). If Toskala misses that save, the Panthers win. Mr. Spiegal would not have had to write his blog today like he did, in fact it probably would have praised the Panthers for a great victory over the Leafs.
Unfortunatly for Mr. Spiegal and the rest of the Panthers' fanbase, Toskala did get his stick on the puck, the Leafs did carry the puck down the ice, Craig Anderson did give up a huge rebound (for the second time in the game), and Nik Antropov ended the game in Toronto's favour.
To suggest the referees in this game should be suspended is idiotic. Both teams traded chances after this incident, and unfortunatly for the Panthers, Toronto made theirs count. Every game referee's miss calls, they can't get everything. Yes, White dropped his gloves, but he never punched Stumpel or hit him once the gloves were off. They were both chipping at each other on the boards, and you could have called a number of penalties. The refs chose to let the teams play, and so they did. Like I said, Florida had first shot to end this game, and they didn't. After that, it's fair game.
I also like how he chose to complain how the Panthers went from being near the top to the top of the league's most penalized. Don't blame the refs, blame your team. Whether your 25th or 30th in the league in PMs, you have a problem that needs fixed. The difference between 25 and 30 is not important, your team needs to behave better either way.
Every team gets shafted by bad calls. As a Leaf fan, I remember the goal Jason Blake scored against Ottawa that was called back, even though it shouldnt have been. Take that bad call back, and the Leafs are over .500 right now. Ref's make mistakes, but in this case, I think they did alright.
Like I said, Jay Bouwmeester scores that goal, and Panthers fans everywhere are not complaining a bit...
