Joel Quenneville Blames Referees for Ruining Good Hockey Game

Following Niklas Kronwall's hit on Martin Havlat Friday night, there's been plenty of discussion about the officiating in the Western Conference final. Actually, there's always a lot of discussion about officiating in the NHL, and following Detroit's 6-1 dismantling of Chicago on Sunday afternoon, Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville sounded off, blaming the referees for ruining a good hockey game. Seriously.

That sound you're hearing is Red Wings fans laughing out loud.

From Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune:

"We witnessed probably the worst call in the history of sports [Sunday] at the end of the [first] period there," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "A nothing play and they scored and it was 3-0. They (officials) ruined a good hockey game. They absolutely destroyed what was going on on the ice. "Our guys were battling and competing and doing what we have to do to get ourselves back into it. It was that call ... I've never seen anything like it."

With all due respect to Quenneville, he's absolutely out of his mind if he actually believes that. The call he's referring to was a roughing penalty on Matt Walker as time expired in the first period, leading to Valtteri Filppula's power play goal to give the Red Wings a 3-0 lead early in the second period. Not only was that call far from the worst call in the history of sports(!), this game was never close. It was domination from start to finish.

Chicago entered the day with an opportunity to even the series at two games apiece, on home ice, and with the added advantage of having Detroit play minus its two best players (future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom and all-everything center Pavel Datsyuk). How did Chicago respond? By getting blown out, and then melting down in the second and third periods with undisciplined penalties, including a pair of 10-minute misconducts to forward Ben Eager. You could counter that by arguing Chicago was also dealing with injuries, especially with its starting goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, but it also had the luxury of turning to its $5 million per year backup, Cristobal Huet.

Bottom line: Detroit showed up, Chicago didn't.

This is all part of a disturbing trend in the NHL (and, let's face it, all sports) where nobody ever seems to lose a game anymore ... they always have games taken from them. Here's a quick rundown of some of the events and players that were more responsible for ruining this game than a roughing penalty to Matt Walker at the 20-minute mark of the first period (aka: the worst call in the history of sports).

1) Cristobal Huet: The aforementioned Huet, a free agent signing this offseason, received the start in place of the injured Khabibulin and surrendered five goals on 26 shots. He was benched midway through the second period, only to return for the third period. Among the goals he allowed was this innocent looking wrist shot off the stick of Johan Franzen in the closing seconds of the first period, putting the Blackhawks in a 2-0 hole.

2) Marian Hossa's Shorthanded Goal: With an opportunity to strike first, the Blackhawks (owners of the No. 1 power play unit in the playoffs) were awarded an early man advantage after Henrik Zetterberg was sent off for roughing. Considering the Red Wings penalty kill was without Lidstrom and Datsyuk, this was quite a chance for Chicago. Instead of capitalizing, four Blackhawks were trapped below the goal line, allowing Marian Hossa and Filppula to break out on a two-on-one rush, resulting in a shorthanded goal to give the Wings a 1-0 lead.

3) Marian Hossa's Second Goal: After Jonathan Toews put Chicago on the board, cutting the deficit to 3-1, the Blackhawks followed it up by allowing Hossa to extend the Detroit lead back to three goals just 12 seconds later. At this point, the Blackhawks started their meltdown and the game was, essentially, over.

Let's face it, if a roughing call at the end of the first period led to that disastrous final 40 minutes of hockey, the Blackhawks are the most mentally fragile team in the league. The only people responsible for ruining a good hockey game on Sunday were the players dressed in red.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-25-2009 @ 10:47AM

Josh said...

This honestly reminds me of the whining about officiating in the Finals last year from Crosby and Therrien when they were clearly outplayed by the Wings. Same happened today. The Hawks were clearly outplayed by the Wings and now their coach is whining instead of whipping his team into shape for Game 5 like he should be. The Hawks still have a chance here but whining isn't helping anything. At least this time around Sharp, Toews, and Kane didn't whine with Quenneville as far as I know.

5-25-2009 @ 10:48AM

Joe said...

Josh,
Obviously you don't know what you are talking about, I forgive you though cause judging from your picture you appear to be about 12. The Pens don't have to whine about the refs. The refs FIX games so that they win. What's the matter is your girlfriend in love with Crosby?...Haven't you been listening to the Flyers, Caps, Canes, and I even believe some wings fans talking about how the refs WANT the Pens to win, or do you only listen to the comments that Crosby whines? Either way before you post comments maybe try knowing what you are talking about. Cause either the REFS want us to win or are we whining about them....how can it be both? LMAO......Go Pens!

Ok. First off, the picture was taken when I was 14 and I haven't changed it in a looong time. I'm 19 now. Better? Second, I'm a huuuuge Red Wings fan. I hate the Pens more than anything. But in the Finals last season, Crosby and Therrien whined like little bitches to the press that the Wings were getting all the calls. I don't care if the league fixes games in their favor (they do), they still whined.

So before you go and insult people about not knowing what they are talking about, make sure you yourself know what you are talking about. Ok?

5-25-2009 @ 12:39PM

Um OK, so you were 14 in this picture, my GUESS was off by 2 years, you still looked 12...so not that bad of a guess. LMAO. It's OK little boy, say what you want, your are entitled to YOUR "opinion". but please don't contradict yourself. IF the refs fix games so the Pens win, why did the Wings win last year? Understand what I am saying? And please stop with the Crosby crying crap. Didn't your coach "cry" about the penalty call on Kronwall? As did most of your fans? OH and I watched the series last year, and don't ever remember seeing a tear in Sidney's eye, but it's OK, I get the jealousy here. Crosby is ONLY 2 years older than you and is one of the best players in hockey and you can only post about hockey here on the Internet! The Wings are a great team and no matter who wins in the Stanley Cup series, Crosby will BE there playing.

rwing said...

Sound like alot of whining from Quenneville, and rather "gutless all around".

hafttwo said...

call the frigin wambulance . quinville was poutin like a bitch the whole game your team lost composure and the wings laughed at them and took advantage of there inexperience and lack of charactor. another series to the wings

BILL said...

You can't dismiss even though the players said they weren't looking for revenge, that in fact they were. It was as if they were more morried about getting that bone crushing hit in on the Wings and forgot there was a game going on. You play the day, if you get a chance to extract revenge then at that time you do so. But you need to keep your head in the game and the Hawks didn't do that.
Game On !!!

hdekiere said...

They need to put a Boo-Hoo rag dispenser behind the B-Hawks bench and penalty box.

sabygr said...

Hockey officiating has sucked as long as I have been a fan, when Washington got a team. The Penguins played an entire game vs. Caps and received no minors in these playoffs. Do I need to remind you of the "MAJOR" the other night that was not even a penalty!! by rule. The more striped shirts there are, the worse it gets. I say go back to the old days of 1 Ref!

5-25-2009 @ 11:54AM

John said...

Let's see Mr Quenneville, you've been outcoached and outclassed, what's left? Oooh I know, act like a little child so your team can take your behavior out onto the ice. When I saw this clown's head almost explode in the beginning of the second period, I thought someone took away his baba (bottle for those who are not parents :)
What was nice was seeing Havlat knocked out of the game by Stewart. He won't be back, he's sucking his thumb in a corner somewhere right now. I'm surprised Cambell didn't call that hit "gutless" as well. The Blackhawks showed their true colors in game 4, yellow. The Red Wings have too much class and too much talent. Bring on the Pens! BACK TO BACK BABY!!!

5-25-2009 @ 2:33PM

dgsmsu said...

Uh Guys, you made a mistake. Coach Q's comments were actually made 2 days ago. The call he was actually referring to was the no call on Buffy after the Kronwall hit. Sorry Q, the Red Wings have your number whether you are coaching the Blues, Avs or Hawks. As for the 2 minute call on Walker, maybe a ghost call there but there were plenty more than the 8 minors called on your team. A classless effort by the BH's....and that is a direct reflection on you Coach Q!

5-25-2009 @ 2:52PM

qongquest said...

as long as the refs were making bad calls against the red wings quenneville was good but when the refs made the right calls against the blackhawks quenneville whines. but quenneville is right about the refs in general, they are bad, fans can tell that the refs are making calls for the teams that hockey HQ in toronto don't want to be in the stanley cup finals, other than yesterdays game, fans could tell the refs favoring the blackhawks and no doubt about the refs and toronto are favoring pittsburgh in the east conference.

5-25-2009 @ 2:55PM

red wing fans won't whine because despite the refs the wings will win. the wings were without datsyuk and one of the best defencemen in the nhl nick lidstrom. a game they should not have won, they end of schooling the blackhawks.

5-25-2009 @ 3:08PM

Pasko said...

When did Blackhawks' fans turn into whining, complaing, namby-pamby, pathetic, crybaby pantywaists?

Quenneville is totally out of his league whenever his team plays the Red Wings. The Red Wings O W N Quennevile.

5-25-2009 @ 4:16PM

In Game #4, Brian Campbell (the same guy who called Nikclas Kornwall a gutless coward) lined up Marian Hossa in the neutral zone and tried to decapitate Hossa. But Hossa saw Campbell approaching and simply ducked, then continued carrying the puck into the Blackawhs' zone and scored a goal on the play.

In other words, Brian Campbell is one gigantic idiot.

5-26-2009 @ 8:36AM

brad said...

you know what's really funny? it wasn't long ago that all you wings fans were on here crying about the refs in the ducks series. when it's you complaining, it's okay? you don't consider yourselves to be "whining, complaing, namby-pamby, pathetic, crybaby pantywaists?"

now, as far as the game went. the hawks weren't going to win. they were outplayed early and outsmarted late. the wings knew they were going to get more physical, so they layed down at the slightest touch and got plenty of calls for it. hell, big buff even earned a roughing minor for recieving a cross-check in front of the bench.
ben eager was tossed for standing by the crease and again later for making a clean hit. you know, i think the refs made up for the questionable call in game three.

5-26-2009 @ 8:37AM

oh, and another thing. for all you cocky wings fans talking about "schooling the blackhawks", just wait. you may be stacked now, but you're old. go ahead and pat yourselves on the back for beating a bunch of kids and a back-up goalie (whom, i might add, has a history of choking in the playoffs) but remember that those kids are going to return the favor in a year or two.

and for those of you talking about class, if you had any yourself, you wouldn't be on here talking smack.

5-26-2009 @ 5:26AM

Cory said...

Brad congrats on joining the mindless lesions of fans who spout ignorance instead of actually thinking for themselves. I mean really with the "wings are old" bit? List of Detroit players in their prime or younger. Samuelsson(32), Datsyuk(30), Hossa(30), Cleary(30), Stuart(29), Franzen(29), Zetterberg(28), Kronwall(28, Lebda(27), Leino(25), Hudler(25), Filppula(25), Ericsson(25), and Helm(22). The older guys are Lidstrom(39), Draper(38), Osgood(36), Maltby(36), Holmstrom(36), and Rafalski(35). This team has a couple important older players in Lidstrom and Rafalski but so do most teams. The Wings know how to reload better than anyone. After the lockout everyone said the Wings were too old and several experts even predicted they would miss the playoffs, yet we saw the exact opposite. New younger players stepped up and the Wings retained their dominance. There's no reason to believe that's going to change anytime soon. As for the Hawks we'll see if they'll still be together in a year or two. They have a couple bad contracts that are going to make things very difficult when their young stars need new deals.

5-26-2009 @ 2:24PM

creepindea said...

Hawks have been outplayed all series long. JQ is a dumbd*ck who can't coach. Supposedly this team is "loaded" with talent (not my words). Game three the Wings were down three and dug deep and came back regardless of the bad calls. To bad the Hawks will break apart in the next few years anyways. Look at singings like Huet's big undeserved contract. You think mistakes like that are gonna get you over the hump? Wings and Hawks have been around forever and the Cup disparity is laughable. Enjoy the view from below Hawks your organization is far from making the pass.