No Word On Whether Bill Belichick Asked For The Tapes

Well, this is a new form of cheating in sports...

The NHL yesterday said it was investigating why the Pittsburgh Penguins' TV-rights holder withheld from replay officials a videotape that showed the Flyers' Simon Gagne scoring a shorthanded goal against the host Penguins last Thursday.

"At the heart of the matter is the integrity of the system," said Gary Meagher, the NHL's senior vice president of public relations.

Gagne appeared to score on a second-period shot that goalie Brent Johnson smothered and carried into the net. It would have given the Flyers a 6-3 lead with 2 minutes, 53 seconds left in the second period.

The play was reviewed, and officials in Toronto said replays were inconclusive and did not count the goal.

A few minutes later, FSN in Pittsburgh gave its viewers a replay that showed the puck across the goal line. The NHL said that replay was not sent to its review team in Toronto until after the puck was dropped following the review. Once the puck is dropped, the ruling cannot be reversed, the NHL said.

"The league is investigating why we didn't get all angles of the replay," Meagher said.

Meagher said FSN should have sent all of the replays, and that it does not have the right to pick and choose which replays it sends.

...Asked if a fine could be assessed, Meagher said in an e-mail last night: "It's a matter between the league, the Penguins, and FSN, and will be handled internally."

A short time after the ruling last Thursday, FSN showed the puck over the line - and one of the Penguins broadcasters told his viewers: "Oh, we saved that one [replay]!"

The Flyers' telecast was using the FSN feed, so there were no other replays that could be sent to Toronto that night.

I guarantee this would be a bigger story if Pittsburgh star and diving enthusiast Sidney Crosby had been the victim.