A late hit landed on North Dakota forward Drake Caggiula on Saturday did not result in a penalty.
Why not? Because the referee was the one doing the checking.
Caggiula scored to give North Dakota an early 1-0 lead over Michigan in the Midwest Regional final of the NCAA men’s hockey tournament, but before the senior could celebrate, an official cleaned him out with an unintentionally forceful hip check behind the Wolverines’ net.
The hit sent Caggiula crashing into the end board. The ref, on the other hand, barely moved.
Pretty goal.
Big collision… with the ref!? #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/jembkF3Kuv
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 26, 2016
Caggliula appeared to escape the incident unscathed, though, and North Dakota went on to win 5-2 to advance to the Frozen Four for the 22nd time in program history.
