The Very Grey NHL Rulebook!

Roberto Luongo was pushed in the net, but that goal still counted. The Rangers apparently kicked a goal in, when it wasn't kicked at all and that one did not count. The Buffalo Sabres score two goals that go off hands while on the stick, one counts and one does not.

And in the crucial game #2 of the Sens/Sabres series last night, Danius Zubrus get called for hooking when he lifted a players stick to steal the puck down 5 on 4 but in overtime, Alfredsson on the Sens hammers Tallinder from behind into the boards and there is no penalty.

I have to wonder now if the NHL Rulebook is written on napkins and the refs and officiating group just cannot read the faded out, smudged ink. And if that's not the case, the bloody cover should be grey, because the way this game is governed is equally as screwed up.

It's easy to see now why attendance may drop, and why new fans outside of Canada do not attach themselves to the game, it's simply because it is hard to understand. Sometimes you score, sometimes you don't. You can't even touch a guy's mid section with the stick, but feel free to spear or board him from behind. But...maybe we will call it differently next game. And the best part of the penalty aspects is that the ref is usually within 3 feet watching a dangerous check go unpunished while they are 60 feet away to call a hook.

And as for the goals, be consistent! How can a goal count one game, but not the next. Especially if you are going to instant replay in Toronto on both occasions where the big wigs make the final call. Oh and let's not forget the countless INCONCLUSIVE goals we have seen this playoff where the goal judge flicks his light on, only to be told after that "The puck probably did cross the line, but with our cameras and low definition feed we couldn't make a conclusive call." So how about get some cameras that work, spend some money on high def or maybe call the Pro Tennis Tour and see if you can borrow the cyclops machine, because they can sure tell in tennis if a ball over a line on a serve.

PUCK OFF NHL and take some time to get some black and white back into this great game. We're tired of hearing that you got it wrong after the fact, tired of wasting 5-10 minutes looking at an instant replay system that is broken and fearful that your obsession with hooking could result in a serious injury resulting by a hit that you never seem to call.