Wild victims of brutal officiating on Saturday night.
Fans of the Minnesota Wild were furious with the NHL's officials on Saturday night... and they were right.
The Minnesota Wild will have no choice but to move forward and shake off a tough loss at home to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night, but if it is any consolation it seems like everyone is in agreement that they got a raw deal from the National Hockey League's officials that were overseeing the game.
The Wild were victims of one of the worst calls I've seen so far this season, don't worry it's still early, when Wild forward Jonas Brodin was inexplicably called for a trip on Kraken forward Brandon Tanev. Brodin was in possession of the puck along the boards when Tanev came charging into him, resulting in both men falling to the ice. Somehow this would result in a penalty against Brodin and the Wild.
Here's a look at the replay:
If you're a frustrated Wild fan don't worry you were far from alone on this one, with seemingly everyone agreeing that this call was absolutely egregious, and I've got the examples to prove it. Former NHL referee Dave Jackson simply had no explanation to offer when it came to the call.
"I'm not sure what angle the ref had, but based on the angle you showed me, I think he'd probably want that one back," said Jackson.
Emerald City Hockey, which covers the opposing team, shared a different angle while also sharing their own disbelief at the penalty called against the Wild.
Minnesota Wild insider Mike Russo was a little less diplomatic in his assessment of the call.
"I truly cannot believe an NHL official called Brodin for tripping here," said Russo. "These guys are human, yes. Mistakes happen, yes. But this is just not acceptable. And it happens 8 seconds after Eriksson Ek is injured with an elbow to the face that’s missed."
The elbow Russo is referring to did in fact happen 8 seconds prior to the penalty being called and has resulted in Eriksson-Ek being unable to travel with the team to Winnipeg for their game later today.
One of those rare instances where seemingly everyone agrees the officials got it wrong, but unfortunately we all know this won't be the last, or likely even the most, egregious call we witness this season.