Steelheads still fuming over controversial goal

Nick Christensen

Monday, April 12, 2004 | 9:31 a.m.

Time heals all wounds, except in the playoffs.

The Idaho Steelheads thought they were cut deeply Friday, by a volunteer goal judge who called the game-tying goal in Game 2 of their series with the Las Vegas Wranglers.

Even after referee Chris Ciamaga waved off the goal, the Wranglers all but quit on the play, and the Steelheads went up 3-1. But Ciamaga conferred with the goal judge -- a local volunteer -- and allowed the first goal, tying the game at 2-2 instead.

The Wranglers went on to win Game 2, 3-2, and still hold a 2-1 advantage in their best-of-five first-round playoff series after Idaho scored a 2-0 win in Boise Saturday night.

According to Sunday's (Boise) Idaho Statesman, the Steelheads are asking the league office to have the teams replay the final 11 minutes, 13 seconds of Game 2, to make up for the error.

The goal came off a shot from the Wranglers' Ryan Christie, bounced off the left goalpost, then hugged the goal line before bouncing out off the right goalpost. The puck must fully cross the goal line in order to be scored a goal.

A replay of the Wranglers' game tape was inconclusive. In sequence, it shows the shot hugging the red line in two frames, apparently at an angle that might allow it to fully cross the red line. The puck then disappears off the shot in the next frame, and is seen bouncing out on the final frame of the replay segment.

But there was no doubt in Steelheads coach John Olver's mind that the puck did not cross the red line.

The scene after Friday's game at the Orleans Arena resembled a UNLV football game at Reno's Mackay Stadium. Fans hailed debris on the Steelheads as they exited the stadium, and at least one of the Steelheads appeared to swing his stick at fans above the entrance to the arena's southeast tunnel. As security guards ran toward the arena to deal with the fan disruption, the Idaho players' exit was stalled because of the oncoming traffic, allowing even more debris to rain upon them.

The Steelheads then trashed parts of the visitor locker room. Wranglers vice president Billy Johnson said some damage included a hole in the wall, a broken shower head, and a "table or two" that was broken.

A cadre of six or seven arena security guards stood outside the adjacent officials' locker room, and escorted them to the video replay room at least twice. It was not known if the officials were looking at tape of the disputed goal, or if they were surveying the postgame incidents that included Idaho's Mike Sgroi jumping from the bench to the ice after the game had ended but while altercations were ongoing. While the league has not moved yet, it is expected they will suspend Sgroi.

At the same time, Olver was in the then-empty arena bowl, conducting a lengthy conversation about the disputed goal on his cellular phone. About an hour after the game ended, Olver said he was considering legal action against the goal judge, but would not disclose any other recourse he was considering.

But his remedy became clear Sunday when the print report was released of Olver's proposal to replay.

"We did what we thought was right, and we asked for something that we thought was fair," Olver told the Statesman. "At the same time, we have no expectations."

Attempts to reach Olver and Wranglers head coach Glen Gulutzan on Sunday were unsuccessful. But the Wranglers' Johnson took exception to the idea of the replay, as well as the assessment of Idaho senior executive Bill Waller in the Statesman article. In it, Waller said he took exception to a "off-ice, local volunteer making statements that have proven to be false."

Johnson thought that Waller's statement was "a bit much."

"A lot of people down at that end of the ice at ice level thought they saw the same thing -- they would have hit the light, too," Johnson wrote in an e-mail Sunday. "Until we know more, it's a bit extreme to suggest an individual cheated and lied when this fluke set of circumstances touched a lot of hands. As far as I know, the goal judge was reinforcing what he and many others near him thought they saw, whether it was correct or not."

Olver and the Steelheads claimed they were told the goal judge saw the puck circle around the back of the net.

"The ref waved his hands, and yelled play on," Olver said at the time. The goal judge then told the referee he was " '100 percent surethe puck ran around the back of the goal'... We felt cheated, it was extremely frustrating."

Adding insult to injury was the trash shower, which included bottles, cans, and other assorted debris. Olver said defenseman Jeremy Mylymok was hit in the eye with a bottle.

Johnson said that he understands fans have emotion in games, too, but should be concerned about players, and each other.

"Fans could hit other fans. Safety is an issue," he said. "We hope some people use better decision-making."

As for the replay, Johnson thought the idea was a bit frivolous.

"That's a terribly dangerous precedent. That means every game in which the prospect of human error may be a factor would then be subject to being reset to the point where the error occurred," Johnson said.

The teams will play Game 4 Tuesday in Boise. Game 5, if necessary, will be Wednesday in Las Vegas. The winner will face the Alaska Aces in a best-of- five, second-round series.