To challenge, or not to challenge, that is the question.<\/p>\n
At least, that\u2019s the question that Thatcher Demko and the Vancouver Canucks coaching staff couldn\u2019t seem to agree on after yet another home ice loss.<\/p>\n
During first period action on Saturday between the Canucks and the San Jose Sharks, Demko had a puck squeak behind him and sit in the blue paint. He eventually found it and covered the puck with his blocker, only to have his arm pushed into the net by Sharks enforcer Ryan Reaves.<\/p>\n
Ryan Reaves opens the scoring in Vancouver \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcfa: Sharks \ud83c\udd9a Canucks live on SNP, SN1 \u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It was ruled a goal on the ice, and the Canucks decided not to challenge.<\/p>\n That decision didn\u2019t sit well with Demko postgame.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we should have challenged the first one,\u201d he told reporters following the loss.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I found it, I got my hand on top of it and swept it out, and then he pushed my entire arm in the net.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, you see challenges where guys are jabbing legs and whatever else in the net, and they usually get called back.\u201d<\/p>\n Canucks head coach Adam Foote gave his side of the story about why the goal wasn\u2019t challenged.<\/p>\n \u201cOur guys know the rule,\u201d Foote said. \u201cAfter a rebound, when a goaltender and a player are simultaneously going after that puck at once, the rule states it\u2019s not going to be called back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was hard to see on that angle if he had it completely covered, but our guys didn\u2019t think that one was going to get called back.\u201d<\/p>\n So, who was right?<\/p>\n Honestly, it\u2019s probably anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n Recent goals that have been waved off may favour Demko, such as Jason Dickinson\u2019s disallowed tally<\/a> against the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this month.<\/p>\n After his disallowed goal, the NHL said that, in accordance with Rule 69.7, \u201cin the event that a goalkeeper has been pushed into the net together with the puck by an attacking player after making a stop, the goal will be disallowed.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar lost a challenge this season<\/a>, and the NHL\u2019s rationale lines up with what Foote was alluding to postgame.<\/p>\n The NHL\u2019s reasoning for upholding the goal against the Avs this month was that, according to Rule 69.7 was that: \u201cIn a rebound situation, or where a goalkeeper and attacking player(s) are simultaneously attempting to play a loose puck, whether inside or outside the crease, incidental contact with the goalkeeper will be permitted, and any goal that is scored as a result thereof will be allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n That ruling prompted Bednar to rip the NHL<\/a>, saying, \u201cI think goalie interference is a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n Bednar probably isn\u2019t the only one who feels that way.<\/p>\n So far this season, the success rate of goalie interference challenges is at an all-time low. Coaches are 13-31 on any such challenge this season<\/a>, for an abysmal 29 per cent success rate.<\/p>\n Over the past four seasons, that rate has hovered around the 50 per cent mark. It even ticked up as high as 60 per cent last season.<\/p>\n In that sense, you can\u2019t blame Demko and the Canucks staff for being at odds<\/a> over the non-challenge.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcf2: Stream on Sportsnet+ pic.twitter.com\/t3m7ze1LqQ<\/a><\/p>\n