Raise your hand if you knew Mike Keenan was still coaching hockey. Now seeing that not many people will raise their hand, I should inform you that he’s coaching Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. He’s in his second season over there, and he led Magnitogorsk to the KHL Championship, the Gagarin Cup, in 2013-14.
He’s making his way around the internet this time after an outburst Friday evening when Magnitogorsk played against Lada where Magnitogorsk player Oskar Osala was penalized for boarding Denis Barantsev. While initially it looked more severe than it really was considering how quickly Barantsev got back on his feet, Keenan might have a point. After watching the replay several times, the call could have gone either way but the referees erred on the side of safety and made the call.
When Osala was skating towards the box, Keenan can be seen screaming and pointing at the Lada bench like he was at Madison Square Garden in 1994. Keenan played up his “Iron Mike” nickname as the home fans can be heard whistling (their version of booing) at the official’s call.
Metallurg went on to win the game 4-3. Keenan has his team sitting in second place in the Kharlamov Division and third overall in the Eastern Conference with two regular season games remaining.
Check out the video below and see for yourself if Keenan has a legitimate gripe about the officials decision.