Ben Coombs

Any wonder why people complain that Gary Bettman’s NHL doesn’t want a Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup with the officiating in the Canadiens game and then the overtime call against Edmonton. How could the officiating crew call that a goal when they weren’t there to see it!!

@NHL @TBLightning They can give a big assist to the official that called the high sticking penalty on Kapannen that led to the tying power play goal!! Guess Cooper won’t complain about that call!!

THE @TBLIGHTNING WIN GAME 4 TO EVEN THE SERIES!!! ⚡️ #StanleyCup

@StuCowan1 Definitely, when a phantom high sticking call leads to a goal that ties the game you know you are getting shafted by the officiating crew!! If you don’t see, don’t call it, it’s that simple!!

NHL refereeing at its worst tonight at Bell Centre. #Habs

@rayferraro21 Why is it that the team who consistently pushes and starts altercations the one that rarely gets the extra penalty? NHL referees need to call penalties on the extra bullshit activities right away, not wait for the other team to react and then penalize them!!

No chance these penalty calls can take this long… Once the officials have made the calls, and conferred, let's move this along… and on top of that they missed the elbow that started the whole thing .... I would suspect Konecny is gonna get fined for an attempted kick at the end of the play… What a mess

@DrakeMT How was there matching penalties except Point’s penalty when two of Tampa players dropped gloves and threw punches and no one on Montreal dropped gloves or threw a punch. Just poor officiating that is encouraging this behaviour. If Xhekaj did this the penalties wouldn’t be even,

Point was already getting a penalty for running Dobes, so this should be another power play for the Habs. Funny how Tampa never tries anything with Arber on the ice, they want Texier and Evans in fights.

Looking at Lane Hutson getting mauled by the much bigger Blue Jackets player, and thinking it would be nice to have a big body that could respond to this bullshit and offer some deterrence to this happening. This is occurring while our deterrence sits in the press box!!

@StuCowan1 He is just not getting any runway at all with MSL. For some reason it seems MSL doesn’t like his game. He is a big defender with a lot of positive but isn’t getting a chance to play in Montreal yet we lack the size and grit he delivers. I would like to hear MSL take on Xhekaj!

Arber Xhekaj will be healthy scratch for fifth straight game tonight and the seventh time in last eight games with Jayden Struble staying in #Habs lineup against Columbus.

How many missed icing and penalties have been let go against the Islanders in the second period? Terrible Officiating!! Xhekaj sits and the Islanders are taking a lot of liberties against Montreal better players, take note MSL!!

@HabsInHighHeels Pairings, Marty knows there is no way to pair 5 defensman. 5 is not a multiple of 2!! Struble and Xhekaji are not in the lineup regularly and when they are they hardly play! They are the two toughest Defenders we have and he really shows them no confidence!!

#Habs Martin St-Louis says people shouldn't put much stock in how the D pairings looked this morning: "you've seen us juggle... we like what we have back there." When asked about not having set D pairs, MSL said "I'm not worried about traditional ways."

@HabsOnReddit Marty might as well use 13 forwards and 5 defensman as he is not going to use Struble or Xhejkai enough to break a sweat anyway. His use of the sixth defensman is astounding and the games he chooses to use them seems to defy logic. The physical teams are when he sits Xhekaj?

The Habs projected lineup vs the Bruins tonight: Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovsky Newhook - Kapanen - Demidov Bolduc - Evans - Texier Anderson - Danault - Gallagher Matheson - Dobson Guhle - Carrier Struble - Hutson Dobes Thoughts? 🤔

USA get the benefit of the doubt again to end the game, a pitch that was too low to be called a strike by anyone else watching the game. Robot umpires are a must if we are to get unbiased umpiring!!

@EricEngels Blow the whistle if you see the puck held, if you cannot see it get in a better position!! Simple common sense officiating that I am sure all referees have been taught! If you cannot learn the simple common sense rules, change jobs!! You cost the Habs at least a point tonight

Officials say they blew the whistle prior to Hutson’s shot. No goal.

@NHLPR @SanJoseSharks @CanadiensMTL Referee blew whistle even though he wasn’t in position to see if he should have, this is on the official. He likely cost the Habs a point or two tonight, unacceptable. You cannot call what you don’t see, get yourself in the right position or stick the whistle up your derrière!!

#HockeyOps explains "no goal" video review at 2:56 of the first period in the @SanJoseSharks / @CanadiensMTL game. nhl.com/news/san-jose-…

@MitchyGallo Terrible job by the referee who blew the whistle without being in place to see if the puck was actually covered. It cost Habs a goal that should have counted and look at the score at the end of the game. 4-2 with an empty net goal, possibly costing the team 1or2 points, terrible.

If you are a referee why do you need video review to determine if you blew your whistle? Lmao. Either you blew the whistle or you didn’t? Isn’t “intent to blow,” also a thing? Why did they call goal and then take it away. Make it make sense.

@BarDown Terrible job as usual, basically ended a player’s season with an illegal hit and this is the punishment. Jokers running the Department of Bullshit calls!!

Did the NHL’s Department of Player Safety make the right call suspending Radko Gudas for 5 games, or would your decision have been different? 🤔

@HFTVSports MSL is a great coach, but his decisions on when to sit Xhekaj is astounding. Sitting him against Ottawa is a poor decision. We need his presence in for a physical team like Ottawa. Someone to deter people taking liberties with their better players!! Confusing decision!!

At this point we should just flip a coin when it comes to who plays between Xhekaj and Struble, I don’t get it anymore Xhekaj played 11 mins yesterday, probably the most he’s played in a while, played alright, but gets scratched against a physical Sens team 🤷‍♂️

@HFTVSports No

Do you think the price makes sense for Kent Hughes to trade for Robert Thomas?

@TSN_Sports Certainly looked like the US player in front of the net hit the goalie and twisted her sideways directly leading to the goal. Terrible call!!

GOAL! After review...Kirsten Simms scores for Team USA as the puck fully crossed the line and there was NO goaltender interference 🇺🇸 Was this the right call? 🤔 #MilanoCortina2026

@CanadiensMTL Can someone explain to me why Xhekaj gets benched when he is playing, doesn’t seem like a very good way to get a confident defenseman who plays without worrying about every little mistake leading to benching. The other dmen are certainly not held to such standards!!

Les changements de ce soir : Montembeault devant la cage, Struble en uniforme, Xhekaj laissé de côté Tonight’s changes: Montembeault starts, Struble enters, Xhekaj exits #GoHabsGo

@CanadiensMTL I’m baffled about the confidence MSL has for Montebeault and the lack of confidence he has in Xhekaj. Monty has been inconsistent all season but is still given the opportunity to start. Whereas Xhekaj delivers muscle to a team lacking it and yet he gets little ice time!!