Rewriting history

If a team wins a game, but the result gets appealed, did it ever really happen?

If players play with emotion, intensity and passion, but the result gets overturned, did their efforts matter?

If the fans cheer at great plays and wince at missed opportunities in a game where every pass and every play meant something, but the game has to be replayed, how upset should fans be?

The South Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League (SSMHL) can answer these questions.

The Estevan Apex Midget AA Bruins defeated the Weyburn Wings 6-5 in double overtime in Game 2 of an SSMHL playoff series on March 5. Weyburn won Game 1 a few days earlier, by the same 6-5, double overtime score.

By all accounts, both games were magnificent. They had the intensity that one would expect from a playoff game between the Highway 39 rivals.

But Weyburn appealed the result of Game 2, due to a referee's error. Results are occasionally appealed due to officiating gaffes. And in many cases, the referees are working at a much higher level than midget AA, and their gaffes are far bigger than the one that was made in Estevan.

But the SSMHL sided with Weyburn. The final 7:55 of Game 2, plus the two periods of overtime, were stricken from the record books. The league erased the result, and in the process, erased the efforts and determination of players from both teams.

The game resumed with Weyburn ahead 5-3, and on a two-man advantage. When a great team like Weyburn's midget AA team is given a second chance, they'll convert. And they did, with three goals in the final few minutes to win 8-3, and advance to the league quarter-final.

The game was a gong show, as one would expect. Enraged Estevan players couldn't stay out of the penalty box.

It's too bad that when people look back on this series, they'll remember Weyburn's appeal and the way Game 2 actually ended. They won't remember Weyburn's exciting win in Game 1, the great hockey that both teams played, or the way Game 2 should have ended.

Would Weyburn have won Game 3 back in Weyburn? Nobody knows. They have a great team and home ice advantage. Estevan would have been missing several players due to suspension, too.

Most leagues are smart enough to understand that overturning the result of a game, based on official’s error, will set an ugly precedent. They know that players are the ones that decide games, not officials, and that presidents and executive members should have zero influence over a playoff series.

SSMHL president Larry Kienas failed to grasp that reality. And he played as big of a role in the result of this series as any player or coach. And that’s a shame.

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