I'm not one for conspiracy theories, however seeing how the officiating when last night really made me think.
Both of the Conference Finals, going into last night, were 3-0 series. The last think the NHL wants is two sweeps. Pittsburgh won its first series 4-0, and Detroit won its 2nd series 4-0. The more games that series go, the more money the NHL and teams make. Also when trying to build a fan base and making the NHL have more parity, having two sweeps against the 4 best teams left in the NHL also will not help build a new fan base.
To me, it was very apparent that the refs dictated this game. Not only with the NO goal on Holmstrom & Datsyuk, but the allowed Erickson goal. Dallas got away with a number of penalties. I love how a Dallas player had Stuart's stick under his arm and Stuart look directly at the ref with his hand in the hair waiting for something to be called, but nothing. Also the pressure that the Datsyuk, Zetterburg, Holmstrom line put o Dallas in the 3rd....how many times to guys need to be held & cross checked before a call is made? I counted 4 crosschecks (on major one to Holmstrom's Head) and a hold in the corner that was never called. Amazing the whistles disappeared.
I agree that the Wings came out flat in the 1st, but this would have been a completely different game if the Ref's officiated that right way.
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