The case for instant video replay in sports is simple. Technology, the thinking goes, can compensate for human error by allowing officials to review tough calls or ones they may have missed entirely. This has particular utility in situations where a team may or may not have scored a goal, run, point or touchdown. It's even more useful when said score has added importance — a potential game-winner, for example.
The San Jose Sharks scored a game-winning goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Well, except that they didn't. Officials completely missed the goal and it wasn't reviewed, then the Sabres went on to win in a shootout.
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Watch the video of the play in question below, via CSN Bay Area. It's clear that the puck enters well into the goal, as is also shown in the above image.
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But the play was not reviewed, despite NHL systems in place for situations exactly like this, perhaps in part because the puck was dislodged from the goal nearly as quickly as it scooted in.
Here's a more detailed explanation via Bay Area Sports Guy:
Had the referee been holding the whistle in his mouth when the puck slid in (or perhaps even if he was bringing the whistle to his mouth), this wouldn’t have been an issue, thanks to the "intent to blow" rule:
78.5 (xii) Disallowed Goals – When the Referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle.
The NHL said as much to the San Jose Mercury News on Wednesday:
NHL response to #SJSharks OT non-goal: "The referee was in the act of blowing the whistle to stop play. The action is not reviewable."
— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) November 6, 2013
Fresh from the Department of Obvious Statements, human error is a part of life. Refs have hard jobs. They're going to miss calls, even important ones. That's fine, and it's why instant replay exists. But it doesn't make sense when human bureaucracy or error stops technology from helping as it should.
So what to do, NHL? Here's one suggestion.
FIFA, world soccer's governing body, used goal-line technology for the first time in international competitions during the Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil in June, and it will do so again for next summer's World Cup. Seven cameras track each shot on the goal, sending data back to one computer that triangulates the ball's position in relation to the goal line. If the ball crosses the goal line, vibrations and visual signals are transmitted within fractions of a second to watches worn by officials on the field.
Substitute the word "puck" for "ball" in that paragraph, and a situation like Tuesday's would have never happened.
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Image: CSN Bay Area