Avalanche HC Jared Bednar on too-many-men complaints: 'I thought it was nothing'
Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has seen the complaints that a too many men on the ice penalty wasn't called on the team's overtime goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday and he doesn't agree.
"I saw it. I thought it was nothing, honestly," Bednar said Thursday morning, via George Stoia of the Denver Gazette. "That happens every second shift of every game.
"That's part of the game. It's a fluid game. You're changing on the fly. You look at that clip and you back that clip up — and I did multiple times already to see exactly what they're talking about — and Tampa's got two guys jumping on with their [defense] coming off the ice in the zone. I count seven [players] at one point. So that is what it is. That's the way the game's played. I don't see it as a break, a non-break. I think it's actually nothing."
Avalanche center Nazem Kadri scored 12 minutes into overtime in Game 4 to give the team a 3-1 series lead.
After the game, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said that the team "probably still should be playing" and reporters would understand why "when you see the winning goal." He didn't elaborate on why he thought the goal should be disallowed, but viewers pointed out that the Avalanche appeared to have six skaters on the ice when Kadri collected the pass that set up the game-winner.
In a statement, NHL Hockey Operations said "a too many men on the ice penalty is a judgement call" that is not subject to video review.
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