Replay Official Explains No-Goal

Audio Spotlight

• Notre Dame's Kyle Lawson on his disallowed goal
  Notre Dame defenseman Kyle Lawson talks to CHN's Mike Machnik about his disallowed goal in the NCAA Championship Game.

the rule is a distinct kicking motion - agree - but he was trying to kick it to his stick. Arguably he didn't touch the puck either. It absolutely changed the game and now the rest of the country knows how terrible the wcha refs are. Time to clean house - get rid of mcleod, shepard, andersen, schmitt, the lot of these fools.
Apr 12 2008, 10:05 pm by forgotten more about hockey than you know

Shepard and his sons need to go. They are very poor. Changed the national championship. It was very obvious from the replay that the skate and puck made contact but there was absolutely no kicking motion until AFTER the puck left the skate. Shepard has suspended officials (unless they were his sons) for less than this. NCAA, please take charge and remove Greg Shepard from his post!!!
Apr 12 2008, 10:13 pm by

Theres a few CCHA refs who need to go also
Apr 12 2008, 10:27 pm by Ima Fibbin, Marquette

"Forgotten" said the Notre Dame player was kicking the puck toward his own stick. It doesn't matter whether he was kicking to his stick or in the net. The rule doesn't take into account the intent of the kick. Just like with the NFL's "Tuck Rule."
Apr 12 2008, 11:31 pm by John, South Bend

The WCHA officials were awful this year..In keeping with that point I am not surprised to see that this call was made by Shephard...
Apr 13 2008, 12:36 am by John Eagan Mn..

Again with the try... he was trying to kick the puck, I don't know that he ever actually did kick it. What makes it difficult is that skate was moving all throughout the play. It is hard to tell if he made a distinct kicking motion while his skate was in contact with the puck. Afterwards, yes he did make a kicking motion but he didn't make contact with the puck. Tough call, I'm leaning towards it staying a goal. Other than that I agree with everything everyone here is saying about WCHA officiating being terrible... terrible is an understatement. I realize it's a tough job but it is a job and if you want to do that job you need to do it well. Shep and crew should go not just because of this but because of the whole body of work this season. Being a Wisconsin fan we had it bad this year although so did St. Cloud, and I'm sure every other team in the league has some great examples as well.
Apr 13 2008, 12:49 am by

If the quality of our WCHA officiating would reach even half the level of skill displayed by our league's players, life would be grand. Unfortunately, the "old boys club" allows Greg Shepherd to protect his incompetent sons with the biggest of the "old boys" His Royal Highness Mr. McLeod fully supporting them. He even has the gall to call out the fans for not being appropriately "respectful" of his officials. Those comments were the last straw -- you cannot DEMAND respect, you EARN it. When you have LOST it, you must EARN it back. Good luck with your pompous attitudes and overinflated egos. YOU are not the game officials, the players are!
Apr 13 2008, 11:30 am by Sioux_Me, Grand Forks

Apparently they never showed the side angle to the replay official. I knew as soon as they kept showing the overhead view that they were gonna blow the call. Terrible call! Might have affected the game, but we'll never know.
Apr 13 2008, 11:40 am by L. Loomer, La Crosse WI

Sour grapes by baby ND fans tired of getting their asses handed to them by BC. Shut up, already and take your medicine. Congratulate the better team and look towards next year. The kid was trying to kick the puck to his stick, but whiffed with the stick. According to the rule, intent is irrelevant. If you don't like the rule, seek to have it changed. Don't blame the ref for simply applying the rule as the rule currently exists.
Apr 13 2008, 2:01 pm by Eagle, Boston

Love the no-class Eagle from Boston. If he showed half the class in victory as his team and coach did, we'd be better off. As it is, damn near every neutral observer thought Shepard got the call wrong. Having said that, I wouldn't say that if he had gotten the call right, ND would have won. I think BC played better and was the better team. Still, strange things happen in a one-goal game with 15 minutes to go.
Apr 13 2008, 4:32 pm by DJ, Chicago

Though this year, nobody cared about Notre Dame vs. Stanford in football, but a very similar kind of thing happened when the replay official very clearly made a terrible call by overruling. Terrible call.
Apr 13 2008, 11:27 pm by

Can we all agree that the NCAA wants to see more goals scored? If so, then why not change this silly rule to ALLOW a goal that has entered off a skate, even if kicked in? That would eliminate all controversy regarding the use of a skate. It is impossible to define "a distinct kicking motion." So why does the NCAA paint itself into a corner? Just change the rule! You would see more goals, and that's exactly what the NCAA wants. I'm a BC fan, and was happy to see this goal disallowed. But I can tell you that if the skate were on the other foot (pardon that pun), I would not be happy. I watched the replay like everyone else. ND was denied a legitimate goal.
Apr 14 2008, 8:27 am by Megan, Boston MA

How Shepard could make out a "distinct kicking motion" by Lawson's right foot is a mystery to me, because his skate was moving backward (probably to get out of the way). I hope that the only good thing coming out of this will be that the rest of the nation has now had a chance to experience first-hand what the WCHA teams and fans have been putting up with all year. Maybe something will happen now that it has become blatantly obvious on the national stage?
Apr 14 2008, 9:14 am by Pete, Minn.

I thought anything that was "iffy" like this goal can't be allowed in a game of this magnitude despite how closely we adhere to the rule in this situation. Put the puck in the net with your stick like it should be done. Anything off a skate I just can't see how you can gripe. BC was the better team and won the title. The goal wouldn't have mattered, Gerbe just would have scored another goal. My goodness if he a great player.
Apr 14 2008, 9:19 am by Matty (Maine)

to matt, eagle, etc it's not that the final outcome would have changed, in fact I'd still be drying my tears if BC managed to finish runner-up again lol but that play ruined the last 15 minutes of a what would have been exciting championship game. leave it to the bleeping wcha to screw up a hockey game they didn't even have teams in haha.
Apr 14 2008, 10:21 am by Ryan, Boston

Shepard is the worst. I've seen his work against the Sioux, now the Irish as well. He should be banned from the NCAA and sent back to Pee Wee hockey where he can do little damage to kids who don't know whats going on; much like Shepard himself. He single handedly changed the Championship game with his anti (ND) attidude. The Iri would have had all the momentum and been back in that game. Shame on the WCHA and the people who allow him to continue his anti- ND sentiments. Sioux or Irish, if it has a ND on it, Shepard always pretends it's the Sioux. Please remove Shepard before he ruins another game.
Apr 14 2008, 12:52 pm by Gregg Martin, Pescott, WI

I don't think we want to allow kicking the puck in... Seems a might bit dangerous to me. To me it's the same as hitting the puck in the net with a high stick. The way it is called now is probably correct. The definition of distinct kicking motion is what needs to be worked on. More than anything else everything that is reviewed should be under the, irrefutable video evidence burden of proof... meaning if you can't tell don't overturn.... Shepard must go!
Apr 14 2008, 2:11 pm by

It appeared to me that player tried to kick the puck to his stick, which was in the opposite direction of the net. I can't say for sure if he did kick the puck or not. It looked to me like he tried but may have missed it. I was rooting for BC to win since they beat the team I was originally cheering for (Sioux). I think Shepard made a terrible call which changed the flow of the game. But on the other hand it was written in the stars for BC this year. Lammy played stellar all season long and had a off night against BC. Then this call and a fluke goal shortly after. It was meant to be for BC.
Apr 15 2008, 5:47 am by hockey fan nd

I watched the TV relays and rewatched them after the game. Clearly to me, the puck hit the skate blade when Lawson's foot was moving toward his body and not toward the net. By the time his foot was moving toward the net, the momentum and direction of the puck travel were already set in motion. Had the BC defensemen not hit Lawson, the goal would have been made. Sad, that the official on the ice got it right. Sad, for Notre Dame that those in the box didn't. This year has shown that even with replay, officials in Colorado messed up two calls...as Bucky also knows. As for BC, they still suck until they can defeat those golden guys from Potsdam. 0-7-1 in their last 8.
Apr 21 2008, 12:32 pm by FTG, Rochacha