Not satisfied with the blatantly overlooked hand ball that put France through to the World Cup over Ireland? Well, here, thanks to Puck Daddy we have some similarly atrocious refereeing in an NHL game. Last night in Detroit the Red Wings lost to Dallas 3-1, but things could have been different if a ridiculously clear Brad May goal hadn’t been called back on the “intent to blow the whistle” rule.

From Fanhouse, here’s how the rule book defines the rule:

As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening.

As Puck Daddy says, it’s “one of the most asinine in professional hockey; the notion of ‘playing to the whistle’ is undercut by referees ending plays in their minds before actually blowing them dead. This Detroit farce is, perhaps, the most rancid example of its folly.”

Yep. There’s at least a good two seconds between when the puck is clearly in the net and when the whistle blows, and while that may not sound like much when written out, watch the clip to see just how blatantly ridiculous a call it is.