Notorious Bruins homer Jack Edwards was in rare form on Saturday night. If you missed it, the NESN broadcaster lost his shit after the puck hit the netting above the glass, play continued, and about 90 seconds later, the Blue Jackets scored. Edwards starts reaching core instability around the two-minute mark of the video:
Two things. Edwards was dead wrong about the proper application of the rule change made after last winter's Kings-Red Wings game. He was also absolutely right to be confused; as Greg Wyshynski covered yesterday, it's inexplicable that the league hasn't been clearer or taken more steps to prevent confusion over what happens in a situation like this one.
Paul Stewart served as an NHL referee for 10 years, and now writes a regular column on Hockey Buzz. In today's edition, he defends the officials in Bruins-Blue Jackets, but doesn't miss the opportunity to stake out his side on the polarizing Edwards.
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.
I say this as objectively as I possibly can. I was fired as an NESN studio commentator for not being pro-Bruins in my commentary and, rather, calling things as I saw them. Specifically, the final straw was saying Kerry Fraser made the correct call on a penalty shot ruling that went against the Bruins.
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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.
Pretty good Pinocchio burn! Also—I would very much like to hear more about Stewart's belief that he was fired by NESN for not being enough of a homer.
Anyway, Jack Edwards's shtick sucks. But I am very specifically not a person to whom Edwards's shtick is meant to appeal, and those people seem to enjoy it. So it doesn't matter what I think. But Stewart's point—that if you loudly bitch about everything, no one's going to take you seriously when you loudly bitch about something worth bitching about—is a good one.
