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Odious Don Koharski killed us More…
Blog:
10 April 2008-The Playoffs are just around the corner More…
24 April No. 17511
D. Chesnokov
Don killed Washington. In the seventh game of the series everything was decided… by the officiating of odious Don Koharski.
On the eve of the game, rumors were swirling that the referees, at the behest of NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman, were going to drag Washington by the ears into round two, so that Ovechkin could meet up with Crosby. The series with Pittsburgh would have extremely high ratings, and a lot of money could be made on it. But everything turned out exactly backwards. The refs cynically killed the Capitals, having tossed them out of the Stanley Cup.
The match yesterday was refereed by Don Koharski and Paul Devorski. I don’t have any problem with the latter. But Koharski…this Don is anything but quiet. I remind you how a young Koharski “smothered” the Soviet hockey players in the Canada Cup in 1987. With the score tied up at 5-5 in the third game of the finals, the hosts went on a 3 on 1 run against the net of Mylnikov. Vyacheslav Bykov, who wasn’t a coach yet but rather a forward on the team, rushed to intercept. However, the Canadian Haverchuck hooked onto him and held him with his stick. Koharski kept his hands at his sides. No penalty was called! Bykov couldn’t break the attack. Gretski passed to Lemieux, and Supermario slammed in the winning goal.
In a 1988 Stanley Cup match between New Jersey and Boston, Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld was so enraged with Koharski’s calls that he caught the ref in the corridor, pushed him in the chest and yelled right in his face “Have another donut, you fat pig!” Schoenfeld was disqualified, but New Jersey submitted to arbitration and defended their coach. Even back then the league understood that Koharski worked worse than ever. But they left him in the referee lineup. Now 20 years later Koharski “murders” Ovechkin and his team, losing the NHL a huge amount of money and ratings. Sour grapes indeed, Mr. Bettman.
The most disputable moment in yesterday’s game was when Philadelphia scored their second goal. A Washington player was pushed into his own goalkeeper. Huet fell, and the visitors pushed the puck into an empty net. A replay was shown on the jumbotron. Even a blind man could see that this was a rule violation. But Koharski brought it back out to center.
“Ref- you stink!” they shouted from the stands. And that was the nice comments. In overtime, Washington defenseman Tom Poti was penalized—for a questionable tripping call at the center boards. Do I need to remind you of the saying that in overtime of the seventh game of the playoffs the refs will only call for intentional murder? Well, Koharski sent Poti to the box. And Philadelphia got it all.
The entire Verizon Center was numb from grief and horror. It was difficult to look upon team owner Ted Leonsis—he was white as a sheet.
At least Koharski freed up our Washington stars for the World Championships. Maybe the Russian fans can thank him for this. But I have no desire whatsoever to say thank you to this ref with over 1,600 games experience. This man who has previously acted so disgustingly.
