NHL investigating Pen's network and replays

[start_today 757]

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/frequentflyers/NHL_investigating_FSN_Pittsburgh.html

The NHL is investigating Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh for not sending all available camera angles to league headquarters in Toronto for Simon Gagne’s apparent goal that was under review against the Penguins last Thursday, league spokesman Gary Meagher confirmed to the Daily News.

FSN Pittsburgh, who had the game’s only video feed, sent all of the camera angles of the replay except the one that clearly showed the puck over the goal line.

Comcast SportsNet elected to not use their own video feed during the game, one CSN employee said on Monday. CSN would have been able to send their own replays to the NHL's War Room in Toronto if they had used their own feed.

"Hockey Operations did not have a definitive replay that showed the puck in the net - and weren't aware that one existed - until after they made their ruling," said John Dellapina, another NHL spokesman. "Once the puck dropped, their ruling became permanent."

Video of the angle in question is shown below.

It is not yet clear whether FSN Pittsburgh purposely excluded the angle or it was an unintentional oversight, though one Penguins announcer can be heard saying “we saved that one” on the broadcast.

A message left for FSN Pittsburgh after business hours on Monday has not yet been returned.

The play was ruled no-goal by officials for “inconclusive evidence."

The non-goal, which wound up not impacting the 7-4 final score, would have given the Flyers a 6-3 lead heading into the second intermission. Coincidentally, the game was the second most watched Penguins regular season telecast ever.

The NHL has given no indication as to length of the investigation or what penalties may come of it.

Said Meagher: "It's a matter between the League, the Penguins and FSN that will be handled internally."

It will be interesting to see what comes of this. From my reading, it seems that the nhl relies on teams to submit videos without any offical check to make sure that everything that was useful was sent. If FSN hadn't shown the good replay on live TV, it seems like they never would have been caught. I've always thought the NHL had the best replay system in sports, as far as consitency and the ability to overturn or confirm rulings, but this makes it looks like the foxes are guarding the henhouse.

[Rustpot 1]

Usually games are covered by multiple networks, even if they aren't telecast. For some reason the away team chose to use the home team's feed so there was only one set of people recording the game.

[Skoda10 14]

I'm surprised the NHL doesn't have some type of giant Tivo like box hooked up to Center Ice. It could just record all the feeds for every game, even if someone in Toronto wasn't watching every game live.

Then they could just pull it up, and they would have seen the view that FSN showed.

[Chadd 916]

I'm surprised the NHL doesn't have some type of giant Tivo like box hooked up to Center Ice. It could just record all the feeds for every game, even if someone in Toronto wasn't watching every game live.

Then they could just pull it up, and they would have seen the view that FSN showed.

FSN didn't show the replay until after the review was over. After play resumed they showed the angle that allowed you to see that the puck had crossed the line and made the comment. I'm surprised that it took this long for the NHL to get involved.

[Skoda10 14]

Interesting, that makes it seem a little more deliberate.

Being the devil's advocate to my cynical self though, but could it just be it took some amount of time in the truck to get that view, and that caused it to only be available after the review, and then really what's the point in sending it to the NHL?

[ktang 34]

Interesting, that makes it seem a little more deliberate.

Being the devil's advocate to my cynical self though, but could it just be it took some amount of time in the truck to get that view, and that caused it to only be available after the review, and then really what's the point in sending it to the NHL?

Those trucks are pretty crowded, so the Director and Producer may not have seen the best replay for quite a while. You see that happen in all sports productions, where the best and most replay is shown long after what the Director and Producer have already re-run what they thought would be the best replay based on camera angle (but with athletes' and officials' body parts in the way) etc.

[chippa13 1844]

This isn't a case of the director and producer selecting the best replays to send, it is a case of them not sending all of the replays and omitting the only one with conclusive evidence. That is very fishy and I wouldn't be surprised if someone involved doesn't get fired at the request of the Pens or the NHL.

[Chadd 916]

This isn't a case of the director and producer selecting the best replays to send, it is a case of them not sending all of the replays and omitting the only one with conclusive evidence. That is very fishy and I wouldn't be surprised if someone involved doesn't get fired at the request of the Pens or the NHL.

I'm not sure how much authority the NHL has to fine, fire or suspend anyone. My guess is that you will see the NHL put someone in place for games that only have one broadcast and/or feed.

[chippa13 1844]

While they don't have the authority, they surely can request corrective measures be taken. I expect that the Pens will say something just so they don't get lumped into any allegations of impropriety.

[Chadd 916]

While they don't have the authority, they surely can request corrective measures be taken. I expect that the Pens will say something just so they don't get lumped into any allegations of impropriety.

Next time they could just bury the video instead of laughing about it and nobody would know. It's a rare situation, but one that I think the NHL will address by doing something more than making someone promise to never do it again.

[chippa13 1844]

So you're saying this would be different from their stance on head shots. <_<

[Chadd 916]

So you're saying this would be different from their stance on head shots. <_<

Absolutely. This is a fairness of competition and officials type issue, not a standard of play issue. There is also very little to oppose them on this front as the coaches, players, management and fans all want to make sure their team doesn't get screwed.

[chk hrd 164]

Toronto could flip the T.V. channel to what ever game, the broadcasters usually call it before Toronto does and they pretty much get the call right

[Chadd 916]

Toronto could flip the T.V. channel to what ever game, the broadcasters usually call it before Toronto does and they pretty much get the call right

I guess you didn't actually read the facts of this story.

[TheHerminator22 0]

I work in a control room for college football and I find it hard to believe that a producer would purposefully try to throw the game like that. It's not his job and he should understand the consequences of any such scandal. That being said, I have seen mistakes happen with replay review that were just complete miss-communications. I think the NHL will have a tough time proving anything either way.

[chk hrd 164]

Toronto could flip the T.V. channel to what ever game, the broadcasters usually call it before Toronto does and they pretty much get the call right

I guess you didn't actually read the facts of this story.

Yeah I read it, my point being that the broadcasters always seem to make the right call before Toronto does in alot shorter time period.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4820756

... (retelling of the original story) ...

FSN Pittsburgh has indefinitely suspended a member of its telecast staff, Lowell MacDonald Jr., son of former Penguins player Lowell MacDonald.

In a statement, FSN Pittsburgh -- the local broadcasts rights-holder for the Penguins -- said, "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game. During last Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a definitive replay of a Flyers goal was not aired prior to the conclusion of the official review and, as a result, a Flyers goal was not awarded. Fortunately, this did not change the outcome of the game. Nonetheless, FSN Pittsburgh's failure to provide video to the league officials in a timely fashion was wholly unacceptable. FSN Pittsburgh has addressed this matter and has taken steps to ensure that such a failure does not occur again."

The Penguins followed with a statment: "We fully support FSN Pittsburgh in its reaction to this issue. The integrity of the game is paramount."

It looks like Lowell MacDonald Jr. is taking the fall for this. That was a pretty quick wrap up.

Toronto could flip the T.V. channel to what ever game, the broadcasters usually call it before Toronto does and they pretty much get the call right

I guess you didn't actually read the facts of this story.

Yeah I read it, my point being that the broadcasters always seem to make the right call before Toronto does in alot shorter time period.

Broadcasters can call it quicker than Toronto because they don't have to be 100% correct, and they have quicker access to the material. Usually they make a call based on a 50/50 guess as soon as it happens. As more info becomes available, they flip-flop back and forth. If you keep throwing darts, you eventually hit the target.

The guys in Toronto have to be right, so they look at all the replays available, which takes more time. The fact that the broadcasters typically get it right doesn't mean anything.

[hockeyfreak7 0]

whether or not it was intentional shouldnt be the point.

apparently it was lowell macdonald's job to send all the replays to toronto. for whatever reason, he failed. and that basically isnt acceptable in the world of pro sports.

[chippa13 1844]

Well, the result was about what I expected. Good on FSN to act before any public cries for action from the league or the Pens.

[camhockey16 5]

im just glad it happened in a rather meaningless regular season game - i can't imagine what it would be like if it was a playoff game or stanley cup final game

[Chadd 916]

im just glad it happened in a rather meaningless regular season game - i can't imagine what it would be like if it was a playoff game or stanley cup final game

Or even if it was the deciding goal in a game

[skeeter14 0]

What I find unbelievable is how many people are crying for the Penguins to get punished, deducted points (even though they lost the game) and/or lose draft picks. Good on FSN for taking action quickly. It's a dead issue now, and everyone can move on.

[Chadd 916]

What I find unbelievable is how many people are crying for the Penguins to get punished, deducted points (even though they lost the game) and/or lose draft picks... It's a dead issue now, and everyone can move on.

Those people are idiots, the team had nothing to do with the situation.

The larger issue should not be dead. Something does need to change to prevent it from happening again. Not just in Pittsburgh, but in general.

[Trooper 8]

You would think they could just register each camera with Toronto before the game. That way Toronto knows how many angles to expect, if one was missing it would be immediately obvious.

[Skoda10 14]

You would think they could just register each camera with Toronto before the game. That way Toronto knows how many angles to expect, if one was missing it would be immediately obvious.

That's a solid idea. The NHL could require a certain set of views of the net for every game/arena too. Then like you said they'd know right away if something was missing.