It is, perhaps, the most viewed goal in the history of ice hockey at St. John’s Prep.
Just about 40 hours after Johnny Tighe’s tally won the Division 1 state championship for the Eagles with no time remaining Sunday night, the play remains the talk of the Massachusetts high school sports world.
Did the goal clearly come after the third period ended? Was Winchester robbed? Did the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association again come away with egg on its face? Is the Prep’s second state title in three years somehow tainted by all this controversy?
A video of the goal shot by MassNZ (the Massachusetts outlet of hockey scouting website NeutralZone.net) is closing in on one million views. The vast majority of those replying to a retweet by Spittin’ Chiclets, one of the most popular hockey podcasts in the world, felt the goal was scored after the clock hit 0:00 and that the Eagles and Black-and-Red should have played overtime.
More than one internet sleuth has freeze-framed the puck still on Tighe’s stick with the light behind the net showing green, indicating time was up. Like modern day John Madden’s with their telestrators, they’ve circled the puck and the light while decrying the MIAA for allowing such a goal to stand.
Assuming the light is tied to the clock and none of the angles are off, the video clearly shows the goal was late.
Raking the MIAA, and St. John’s Prep, over the coals for this is where I get off the bus.
Bashing the MIAA has been a favorite hobby in the Bay State for as long as I can remember; it’s right up there with questioning any sitting Red Sox manager and cooking corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day.
But in this case there’s nothing the state could, or should, have done differently.
In all sports, across the board, the decisions of the on-ice and on-field officials are final. The MIAA has absolutely no wiggle room in this regard … and that’s a good thing. The idea that some state official or school administrator could call down from a luxury box and tell the refs to keep this game going is silly; the chaos that would come from such a precedent would be endless.
True, the MIAA has not built up a lot of goodwill in the eyes of sports fans, which is why the organization is not getting the benefit of the doubt here. But blame on the MIAA in this case is misplaced.
Any criticism or doubt about the veracity of this goal belongs, respectfully, with the on-ice referees.
The zebras that skate at state championships at TD Garden are the best in their business. They’ve got a tough job to do, but they’re not immune from respectful and impersonal criticism.
The video shows the official positioned exactly where he should be, behind the net with a clear angle of the shot and the crease. It also shows the crew communicating with each other exceptionally well — watch them all signal that Prep defenseman Brady Plaza artfully kept the puck inside the blue line before his shot that created the rebound Tighe swiped home.
In real time at the Garden Sunday night, I thought I saw the ref signal the goal a split second before I saw the light come on. It was so emphatic that the Eagles threw off all their equipment and celebrated.
The four referees than conferred near center ice to go over the play. Apparently none of them had a clear view of the clock hitting 0:00, so the goal stood. The Prep went home with gold medals and a 3-2 victory.
On tape, it looks like they were wrong.
But there is no instant replay in high school sports.
Nor should there be.
Under National Federation of High Schools rules, instant replay can be used. States like Minnesota use it.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but there’s no place for it in high school. Replay raises too many impossible questions.
How do you choose which rounds of the state tournament ‘deserve’ instant replay? If you mandate that every round has it, would the few rinks equipped with such technology even be available to host all the games? It was only 10 years ago that Bill Belichick joked the NFL could hold a bake sale to pay for new replay cameras it deemed too expensive … how can you expect high school sports programs drowning in user fees to pay for a full replay room?
You can’t say the Division 1 playoffs get replay while Division 4 or perhaps the girls don’t need it. You can’t say the championship is too important not to have it, because what if a team advances to the final on a close call in a previous round?
Even having it in the playoffs and not the regular season is fraught … just ask the Peabody girls hockey team about their goal against Winthrop that didn’t count.
Not to mention the equity issues in play if you have replay for hockey but not football, basketball, soccer or any other sports.
There are too many butterfly effect scenarios that create too much of a hornet’s nest for the MIAA to embrace instant replay, in my view.
Which leaves the final question of whether St. John’s Prep’s state title is somehow tainted. Well, is the New York Yankees’ 1999 World Series title tainted by the phantom tag of Jose Offerman in the ALCS against the Red Sox? Of course not.
Missed calls on bang-bang plays are part of sports. There are a dozen examples from my hometown of Peabody alone, going all the way back to 1973 and a Catholic Memorial home run that may or may not have gone over the fence.
Every fan of every team at every level can think of a decision that didn’t go their way and definitely appears wrong on the replay. For Winchester, to have it happen in the biggest game you’ll ever play is unfortunate. The Black-and-Red may not be recognized as champions, but they handled this situation like champions and should be commended endlessly for that.
The sports culture of First Take and social media drives outrage and fosters harsh discourse; when something unfortunate happens, we need someone to blame. I just don’t see anyone at fault here, I see referees doing the best they can to make a split-second decision at the speed of light.
St. John’s Prep and Winchester could play 1,000 hockey games and that scenario would never play out exactly the same way again. It’s as memorable as it is historic and as captivating as it is controversial.
It was a million-to-one shot … and that’s why its been seen a million times.
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Matt Williams has covered high school hockey for The Salem News since 2007. You can contact him at MWilliams@salemnews.com and follow along on Twitter/X @MattWilliams_SN