The clock farce in the Frölundaborgs Isstadion hall has happened before.
Ari Ahonen already stopped playing when the opponent scored a goal. Photo from 2017. Matti Raivio / All Over Press
In the quarter-final match between the Young Lions and Slovakia, a special situation was seen when Slovakia’s 1-0 lead goal was accepted in the first period.
According to the TV graphics, there were 1.7 seconds on the game clock when Slovakia started the attack. Slovakia put the puck in the net immediately after the start. However, the clock shown in the TV slow-motion showed that the playing time had already ended before the puck hit the Finnish net.
The referee of the match checked the video and accepted the hit. Finland eventually won the match 4–3 at the end of extra time.
The same thing happened before
A similar bell farce has happened before in the same Frölundaborgs Isstadion ice rink.
Frölunda and Färjestad played their sixth quarter-final match in 2008, when Färjestad’s 5–5 equalizer was disallowed.
According to the TV graphics, there were four seconds left in the game when Färjestad won the kickoff. Mikael Johansson shot the puck into the goal, but the game buzzer started ringing a few seconds earlier. Frölunda guard Ari Ahonen stopped playing when he heard the set buzzer and did not try to block Johansson’s shot.
The jury of the match clarified the situation for a long time and had long discussions with the head coaches of the teams. The TV graphics showed that there was still time in the game clock when the puck went into the goal.
However, the hit was disallowed and the final seconds were replayed. Färjestad was no longer successful in scoring, so Frölunda won the match 5–4 and stretched the quarter-final series to a stalemate.
Färjestad head coach Tommy Samuelsson was furious about what happened and had a heated discussion with the referee of the match. After the game, Färjestad and especially its supporters demanded that the game be played again or the result of that match be annulled.
That didn’t happen.
– If they have such hopes, I can say immediately that the match is over and the result will stand. Piste, at the time the competition leader of the series called Elitserien Lars G. Karlsson said for Aftonbladet.
“I understand their disappointment and it’s very sad that technology caused this, but I’ve spoken to everyone involved on the ground in Frölundaborg and the refereeing team has done exactly the right thing. The final buzzer means the end of the game. The referee has the final say if there is a dispute about the time.
Färjestad eventually progressed from a pair of matches to the semi-finals.