Paul Maurice calls OT penalty 'horse s***' (Video)
Somebody get out the bar of soap. Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice used a bad word during his post game media scrum. Might as well open his wallet, too, after the NHL hears his comments.
The Jets scored three goals in the third period to tie the Washington Capitals and take the game to overtime. With 2:39 remaining in OT, the linesman calls a very late ‘too many men’ penalty on the Jets. Then the Capitals do what they do on the power play and get the puck to Alex Ovechkin who nets the winner.
Winnipeg posted video of Maurice’s scrum after the game. Don’t worry, they beeped out the bad word.
“They keep fighting back.”
Head coach Paul Maurice on the third period rally, and the 4-3 overtime loss in Washington. pic.twitter.com/8166SNSp0d
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 4, 2016
Here’s the transcript of the moment between Maurice and the reporter at 1:40 of the video:
Reporter: Was the penalty in overtime a little tough to swallow for you guys?
Maurice: It was horse [poop], so that would be hard to swallow. But I can’t blame the referees on it ’cause the linesman called it; which was important that he involved himself in the game that point. I don’t think it was too many men on the ice. I don’t think it was that close.
Yes, coach. You are correct. Horse excrement is indeed hard to swallow.
As for the penalty itself, Maurice might have an argument. There wasn’t a great angle from the TSN feed, but from what can be seen, the ‘too many men’ call is questionable.
Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler go off for a change as Marcus Johansson takes the puck up ice. We can’t see where Buf and Wheeler are in relation to when Toby Enstrom and Patrik Laine join in on the play. Enstrom and Laine were on the ice for a couple seconds before the penalty is called.
Check it out and see what you think. Watch Byfuglien and Wheeler skate to their left and when Laine and Enstrom come on.
There is one thing Maurice may have not seen from the bench (or ignored?).
Right before Byfuglien exits the ice, he gets away with a pretty egregious interference/trip/hook on Johansson.
Perhaps the ‘too many men’ was a makeup call?
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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!