Tomas Holmstrom on the Wrong End of a Disallowed Goal—Again

You've got to be kidding me. 

For the fourth time in the span of a year, Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom has been responsible for a disallowed goal due to goaltender interference. 

The problem? More than a legitimate case can be made that all four incidents should have resulted in good goals. 

The NHL has begun the process of protecting their goaltenders much like the NFL tries to protect quarterbacks. Any contact, whether it be incidental or not, raises a red flag to the officiating crew. 

It started in a February game last season when the Red Wings played host to the Anaheim Ducks. Clinging to a 3-2 lead with under a minute to play, Anaheim got some help from referee Dan O'Halloran. 

With 40 seconds remaining in regulation, O'Halloran swiftly waived off a Nick Lidstrom goal, citing Holmstrom with incidental goaltender interference. Replays later showed that Anaheim goalie J.S. Giguere initiated the contact with Holmstrom just outside the crease.

Fast-forward to game four of the Western Conference Finals. The Red Wings were leading the series against Dallas 3-0 and all signs pointed toward a sweep. 

Enter referee Kelly Sutherland. 

A Pavel Datsyuk wrist shot in the first period was disallowed because of Holmstrom's crease-front presence again. This time, the gangly Swede never entered the crease at any time. The game tilted toward Dallas's favor and it took two more games for Detroit to close out the series.

Red Wings bench boss Mike Babcock was not impressed with Sutherland.

"The guy's not in the paint? The guy's out of the paint. That was a reputation call totally. It's disappointing," he said.

Little did Babcock know that three games later his team would fall victim to another phantom call.

Now it's game one of the Stanley Cup Finals. Lidstrom takes a slap-shot at the top of the right face-off circle that gets past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to the short side. 

Holmstrom, skating across the top of the crease, clearly outside of it, is called for a minor penalty for goaltender interference.

His stick was near Fleury in the crease and apparently it was hindering Fleury the opportunity to do his job. The culprit on this call? For the second time, Dan O'Halloran.

And that brings us to last night. Dallas took a big 4-0 lead early in the second period, but the Red Wings would attempt to claw back. After two second period goals, Nick Lidstrom struck again. 

So did Dan O'Halloran—for the third time in a year. O'Halloran saw Holmstrom make contact with Turco. What he didn't see was Turco slash and attempt to trip Holmstrom just before defenseman Trevor Daley backed Holmstrom to the top of the crease. 

Adding insult to injury, contact seemed to be made after the puck was by Turco. 

This has got to stop. 

It's an embarrassment to the entire game for this to take place on a repetitive basis.  It's very apparent NHL officials have targeted No. 96 in red when he's around the blue paint. His reputation has clouded the integrity of unbiased officiating. 

The NHL tells its officials to protect the goalies.  At what point does protecting goalies make a mockery of the game?

As the latest Lidstrom goal was waved off, Mike Babcock stood in disbelief with a sly grin on his face. Laughing might be the only way to react to a situation like this.