Devastated Blake Coleman reacts to disallowed goal after Flames’ elimination

The Calgary Flames’ postseason run came to an end on Thursday night after a disallowed goal controversy…

The Flames were robbed of their would-be go-ahead goal with just under six minutes remaining in the third period of a pivotal Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Forward Blake Coleman was driving the net and falling to the ice while also being pushed by defenseman Cody Ceci as his skate hit the puck on a rebound of Mikael Backlund’s shot. However, the goal would be called back by the on-ice officials, who ruled that Coleman was guilty of a distinct kicking motion.

The game ended up going to overtime and of course, it was superstar Connor McDavid, who scored at 5:03 as the Oilers defeated the Flames 5-4 to win their second-round playoff series 4-1 and move on to the Western Conference final.

After the elimination, Coleman faced media and tried to react to his disallowed goal. It’s easy to tell he’s trying to remain polite towards the officials’ work, but this one is hard to swallow.

“Getting pushed, just trying to keep my foot on the ice. I haven’t watched it enough. But In live speed, it felt like I was in a battle. My understanding is you can direct the puck but you just can’t kick it. And I didn’t feel that I kicked it. Can’t go back and change it now. It is what it is.”

“My understanding is that you can redirect the puck, you just can’t kick it,” Coleman said, adding that he did not think he made a distinct kicking motion and that he must not “understand the rule.”

Coleman, who won the Cup the last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, can no longer play to get a third consecutive championship.

Head coach Darryl Sutter also didn’t seem to fully buy the explanation on the play.

“Well, depends what you call a distinct kicking motion,” said Sutter, responding to whether he agreed with the call. “Somebody’s on the ground, and you lift your foot up, kick them in the head, it’s a distinct kicking motion. You put slide your foot in the ground, it’s not a distinct kicking motion. Whatever.”

This one will be talked about for a long time…