The Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning minor league affiliate) and the Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings minor league affiliate) were playing in Game 2 of the AHL’s Calder Cup Final when the most bizarre thing happened. Crunch forward J.T. Brown fired a shot that appeared to go wide of the net, but upon further review, his shot actually went through the net.
The time on the clock read 59.5 seconds left in the 2nd period when the clock was actually stopped before they could review the goal. The time of Brown’s goal was 1:37, but the referees made a serious blunder. They set the clock at 3:50, turning the second period into a 22 minute period. When they announced J.T. Brown’s goal, his goal time was actually announced as though the Crunch’s 4th goal had been scored before their third. 26 seconds after Brown’s goal, the Griffins scored again to take a lead that they wouldn’t surrender. The referees are lucky that they didn’t score in that extra two minutes that they had added on, or it would have been one of the most controversial games ever.
George Malik summed it up quite nicely:
“I’ve been watching hockey since 1991, but I have never, ever witnessed a more ridiculous display of refereeing at its worst, at any level, than what I witnessed on the AHL Live’s stream of the Syracuse Crunch’s broadcast.”
