LaRue hands Kings the win on Saturday night. Plus: Sean Avery continues to be a very stupid man.

By now, everyone has probably heard of the controversy surrounding the shootout in LA on Saturday night. I'd like to propose that regardless of how many times J-Ro struck the puck, the goal should not have been allowed, and referee Dennis LaRue (a 14 year veteran) should have immediately ruled it "no goal, no review." All the talk that I've heard and read concerns how many times Roenick played the puck, but a look at the rules concerning goalie protection suggest that the goal should have immediately been called "no goal" on the ice without any option for review.

First of all, if you haven't seen the clip of it, here's the highlight package from that game, including the shootout "goal" by Roenick. You'll need to see the goal first. It's hard to tell with that shot whether or not J-Ro played the puck twice, but like I say, it doesn't even matter.

Rule 78 a from the NHL Rulebook says:

If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

Just in case, rule 78 b says:

If an attacking player initiates any contact with a goalkeeper, other than incidental contact, while the goalkeeper is outside his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

If you ask me, Roenick initiated the contact, and Vokoun was inside the crease, so this would fall under 78a.

Wait, though... There's more.

Rule 78 d:

If (i) a goalkeeper initiates contact with an offensive player who is in the goal crease; and (ii) such contact is (a) initiated by the goalkeeper in order to establish position in his goal crease; and (b) results in an impairment of the goalkeeper's ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

Even if you can make a case that Vokoun initiated the contact, he was decidedly trying to establish himself in the crease, and the contact impaired him. Even if you have to resort to 78d, still no goal.

Wait... there's EVEN MORE.
You can clearly see that Vokoun was knocked into the back of the net. There's even a rule about that. Rule 78 j states:

In the event that a goalkeeper has been pushed into the net together with the puck after making a stop, the goal will be disallowed. If applicable, appropriate penalties will be assessed.

It certainly is possible, and the replay makes it look like there's a decent chance that Vokoun had the puck lodged under his pad, and the collision with Roenick pushed him and the puck together into the net.

Aside from ALL OF THAT, the video over at TSN.ca has the overhead shot, which clearly shows that J-Ro played the puck twice. No goal. It should absolutely be no goal.

Bad, bad, bad. Bad official!

Of course, LA was already up 1-0 in the shootout, but Nashville was denied their third and final chance because of a bogus goal. Maybe also, they ought to have taken advantage of their power play opportunities to run away with the game early on.
Still though, a bad ruling by a veteran official.

What somehow got overlooked because of all that drama is that Sean Avery was at it again. He was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for viciously checking Simon Gamache into the boards from behind. Gamache, by the way, is Quebeçois (or, as Avery would say, "French") and wears a visor. I think Bettman ought to hand down a multiple-game suspension given Avery's previous comments with specific reference to such players. I doubt very much that his hatred of visor wearing French players and the vicious hit on the defenseless player were coincidental. The hit can also be seen on the TSN highlights of the game.

Decide for yourself, but you've heard my take. If you disagree with me, feel free to let me know where I'm off the mark on either the Roenick goal or the Avery hit.