Referee Rob Martell has 941 NHL games under his belt. He’s seen his fair share of goals — and reviews. The important thing about goal reviews is that they help make sure the officials get the call right. Whether they announce it correctly, well, that’s a different story.
Referees Rob Martell and Francis Charron discuss the goal
With the Ducks trailing the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0, it appeared that Anaheim had finally put the puck past Bolts backstop Ben Bishop. Referee Rob Martell, positioned at the side of the net, disagreed. He immediately waved off the goal, believing it to have been kicked in by Ryan Getzlaf, who was tied up with Brian Boyle at the top of the crease.
Replays showed a kicking motion directed the puck into the net, but that kick was an inadvertent one from Boyle as he jockeyed for position.
Once the replay cleared up the situation — a good hockey goal that was deflected in off a defending player — it was up to referee Rob Martell to break the news to the fans.
Unfortunately, he accidentally told them the exact opposite thing.
This is not the first time Anaheim’s been on the receiving end of a referee’s announcing error. Earlier this season, referee Brad Watson nearly referred to them as hailing from Atlanta.
