Sometimes the bounces go your way. Sometimes they don't.

On Thursday night in overtime of their Calder Cup Finals game against the Norfolk Admirals, the bounces most definitely did not go the Toronto Marlies way.

The Marlies lost to the Admirals thanks to this fluke of a goal that took an awkward bounce off the glass and ended up in the back of the net as goalie Ben Scrivens went behind the net in anticipation of playing the puck. The victory gives the Admirals a 3-0 lead in the series.

He never had an opportunity to play it, and could only watch helplessly as this happened.

That's just ... unfortunate.

Following the game Marlies coach Dallas Eakins described the experience in pretty incredible detail, via the Globe and Mail.

“I would rather somebody take a pair of steel-toed boots and kick me in a delicate region than to lose a hockey game like that. That is a tough way to lose.”

Even worse, according to James Mirtle, the goal should have been disallowed because at least one Norfolk player was in an offside position. And according to AHL rule 83.4, that means the play should have been blown dead. 

“83.4 Disallowed Goal – If the puck is shot on goal during a delayed offside, the play shall be allowed to continue under the normal clearing-the-zone rules. Should the puck, as a result of this shot, enter the defending team’s goal, either directly or off the goalkeeper, a player or an official on the ice, the goal shall be disallowed as the original shot was off-side. The fact that the attacking team may have cleared the zone prior to the puck entering the goal has no bearing on this ruling.”

Yep and now the AHL has pie on its face. But I guess that's why the AHL refs are in the AHL? 

UPDATE: American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews has issued the following statement: 

“We have spoken with Toronto Marlies management and confirmed that a rules interpretation error by the on-ice officials occurred on the Norfolk Admirals’ overtime goal during Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals. 

“On the play, a dump-in from center ice by a Norfolk player caromed off a stanchion and into the Toronto net. The correct application of AHL Rule 83.4 would have negated the Norfolk goal due to a delayed offside call. 

“As AHL By-Laws do not allow for any change to the final result of a game based on an incorrect rule interpretation, the result of the game stands.”

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