We told you about NESN’s Jack Edwards going ape over a goal call during the Boston Bruins-Columbus Blue Jackets game despite the puck going out of play and hitting the protective netting. During this sequence, Jack went on a long rant thinking the play would be reviewed, however, the officials did not notice the puck going out and with a rule change, the play wasn’t and the goal stood. Edwards kept harping on the whole thing as you can see in the video below.

Former NHL referee Paul Stewart writes a regular column for Hockey Buzz and he proceeded to rip Edwards for being biased and not knowing the rules. Stewart first admitted the NHL rulebook is rather vague and poorly worded, but he said it didn’t excuse Jack from going all ape.

“Of course, that didn’t stop outrageously biased Boston announcer Jack Edwards from going off on a lengthy rant, both while play was still underway and especially after Calvert scored, about how nothing that was taking place would ultimately count. Of course, once the Columbus goal was scored, poor Jack nearly had a nervous breakdown.

Had it been a Boston goal, Edwards would said something like, ‘Well, it’s all good now!’ and laughed in oddball fashion over how he was glad he was proven wrong about a much-belated goal being reviewable for the puck exiting the rink 75 seconds earlier. The combination of being wrong and having a goal go against Boston was just too much for poor Jack to take.

Listen: I respect the job that announcers do. I also realize that there is an expectation placed on local broadcasters to filter things through the lens of the team for whom they are employed to broadcast. Some do it better than others. Edwards takes things to such a ridiculous extreme that he has no credibility even when he makes a legitimate or semi-legitimate point”

And Stewart continued:

“…In this case, I actually do agree with Edwards that a call was missed and play should have been stopped immediately on the ice long before the goal was scored at the other end of the ice.

It’s the specifics of what happened afterwards, as well as his almost comically slanted rant after being embarrassed by the fact the next faceoff went directly to center ice without Toronto ordering a replay, that rendered Edwards’ argument irrelevant.

The prime directive is to get the call right for the good of the game. In this case, there were two calls involved: one minor missed call (a puck out of play that did not immediately contribute to a scoring chance let alone a goal) and a major one (allowing or disallowing a goal).

….

Only a complete twit would whine and carry on incessantly on over an overlooked technicality taking precedence over the game. Then again, perhaps Jack Edwards should change his surname to Lampwick because he’s no stranger to looking like a jackass.”

Leave it to Stewart to bring a Pinocchio reference into his column. The whole thing is quite classic. Stewart pointed out in his column that he was fired from a NESN studio analyst for not criticizing a call that went against the Bruins. That’s the same network that employs Edwards.

We hope to see future Edwards rants and to more Stewart incendiary columns calling him out.

[Hockey Buzz/Deadspin]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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