If any Blue Jackets player has kicked or high-sticked a puck into a net within the past five seasons, Campbell or one of his underlings in the league's video review center has dissected it, rewound it and watched it again at various angles.

Thanks to technology, nobody in the NHL has a better view of its 1,230 regular-season games than the men working in what is dubbed "the war room." Of course, that doesn't mean everybody agrees with the calls.

On a recent afternoon, Campbell walked into a room and, without introduction, asked a visitor to confirm a report that had escaped Big Brother's detection in a Dec. 23 telecast from Nationwide Arena.

"Is it true fans in Columbus were chanting 'Toronto sucks' at a game not long ago?" said Campbell, NHL vice president and director of hockey operations.

Campbell, 56, a former player and coach, smiled wryly. The video review center resolves between 500 and 600 disputed goals per season, and Campbell knows that every decision brings relief to some, joy to others and exasperation to many more.

Each season, Campbell says, one or two teams think they are "getting a raw deal," sparking anger and conspiracy theories. He acknowledges that the Blue Jackets are one of those teams this season.

The Jackets are 1-6 on video reviews, according to league-issued, play-by-play summaries. Two disallowed goals -- one by captain Rick Nash on Oct. 25 in Minnesota, the other by Manny Malhotra on Dec. 18 in Dallas -- loom large for a franchise trying to make its first playoff appearance.

Campbell said he empathizes with all NHL fans who feel wronged but emphasizes that past calls will have no bearing on the next review.

"It would be easy to say, 'It's Columbus, they've got to make the playoffs this year and they have had a couple of tough calls go against them and they need this one,' " he said. "But we can't do that."

More than goals

Some Blue Jackets fans swear that Toronto's injustice toward them goes back several seasons. Peruse the Internet long enough, though, and you will find similar stories and controversies involving other franchises.

"Fans usually only remember the calls that go against them," said Damian Echevarrieta, a longtime NHL staff member. "That's the cross we bear. Nobody cheers for us."

Seated at his workstation on a recent Wednesday, Echevarrieta watched a replay of Nash going offside just before scoring a goal. Offside is not a reviewable offense, so staff members didn't alert the Nationwide Arena replay official. Nash's goal was part of a 4-3 Jackets win over St. Louis.

The missed offside call was nonetheless noted in a game report. Staff members do more than determine a goal's legitimacy and order carryout pizza. They also monitor missed calls, flag questionable hits that could merit a suspension and chart leaguewide trends.

The crew consists mostly of former players such as Kay Whitmore and Kris King, but on-ice officials have been part of it. As a rule, Campbell said, former referees don't make good replay officials because their training leads them to make snap decisions.

NHL replay review, instituted in 1991, was not centrally located in Toronto until 2003 when general managers, searching for more consistency, took the final say out of the hands of the 30 arena replay officials.

"The GMs wanted us making the calls because we see more games on a weekend than the arena video guys see all year long," Campbell said. "We're in a neutral setting and we don't have 18,000 people screaming, 'goal, goal, goal.' "

Technologically sound

Fans probably envision the NHL's nerve center as an assembly-hall sized room big enough to monitor a space shuttle launch. In fact, it's a windowless, 36-by-12-foot alcove.

There are four workstations and a command post that features two big-screen televisions and an intercom system allowing instant communication with all 30 rinks. On busy nights, up to eight staff members are on duty, and some must use an auxiliary room across the hall.

Home and away broadcasts from each game are shown. Eight camera angles are typically available. Just because Toronto doesn't halt play for one of Kristian Huselius' shots off the post doesn't mean someone failed to review it.

"We can go back and look at something as the play continues," King said. "It keeps the game moving."

Not all games are shown in high definition, and the difference between HD and standard definition is stark, especially when watching slow-motion replays.

During the Jackets' win over the Blues, the replay staff did not realize there was an HD feed until the second intermission. Staff members could tell that a second-period Jackets goal was good, but they weren't quite sure whose stick the puck last touched. Once the HD channel was acquired, it became clear that the goal belonged to Andrew Murray.

The review-room banter is what you might expect when you herd a group of ex-jocks into a small room. They analyze games and grouse about the same commercials they watch every night from October to June. Each staff member is assigned a specific game, but they all share input on disputed goals.

In the final frantic seconds, the Blues stormed the Jackets' net looking for the tying goal, but goalie Steve Mason found the puck under a pile of bodies.

King: "Where's the puck?"

Whitmore: "Mason's got it and our referees are in good position to call it."

As the early games ended, King updated the conference standings on a grease board.

Close calls

The Blue Jackets are locked in a tight race for a Western Conference playoff spot. The Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars are part of the same pack, and the Jackets have suffered controversial losses to each.

Campbell, who is in charge of NHL discipline, and Mike Murphy, who runs the video room, get phone calls and text messages all the time from team officials. They even receive messages from third-party general managers because a ruling affected a team they're pursuing.

Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said the only time he sees general manager Scott Howson lose composure is in dealing with Toronto. Two calls stand out:

• The Jackets lost 2-1 in Minnesota on Oct. 25 after Nash was ruled to have deflected a last-second shot with a high stick. On-ice officials huddled and decided "no goal" while replay staff members examined the play.

Toronto returned the call to the on-ice officials in Minnesota, and the goal was waved off. "The ones we rarely overturn are the high-sticks because no camera angle is conclusive if the player is standing too far from the net," Campbell said.

• On Dec. 18, Toronto made the call as Malhotra drove to the Dallas net in overtime. The center shot the puck, which caromed off goaltender Marty Turco and back to Malhotra. Standing on one skate while getting shoved from behind, Malhotra saw the puck bounce off his skate and into the net.

On-ice officials called it a goal and a 6-5 Jackets win. But staff members in Toronto and Campbell, from his home (which is equipped with a workstation), thought they saw a "distinct kicking motion," which is illegal.

To overturn a call, replay needs conclusive evidence.

"I called in and said, 'I don't want to hear what you guys got. This one is a tough one. I think I've got this guy (kicking) the puck in the net, projecting it in the net,' " Campbell said. "I asked, 'What do you guys got there?' They said, 'We got a kick, too.'

"I remember saying, 'This is overtime, this is a potential winner.' Afterwards, you think, 'Oh, boy, it's Columbus. They had a tough one earlier in the year; they're going to think we are screwing them."

Campbell grows animated in discussing disputed calls, sometimes re-enacting them. At one point, he balanced himself on one foot imitating Malhotra's stance. But how does a player on one foot kick a puck?

"These guys are good athletes," Campbell said.

Howson provided only one response for this story.

"While we did not agree with the calls on the high stick in Minnesota and the kick in Dallas, we have moved on and are focused on the playoff race," Howson said via e-mail. "Any suggestions we may have to improve the system will be expressed to the league in the proper forum."

The general managers meet March 9-11 in Naples, Fla., and Campbell will be part of the conference. He admits mistakes have been made but said his staff works hard to ensure they aren't repeated.

In preparation for the meeting, the staff began jotting down close calls from this season on the grease board that might be cited as examples. The ones on the board were the first that came to mind, King said.

None involved the Blue Jackets.

treed@dispatch.com