It is no secret that coaches and referee’s do not see eye to eye all the time, I know that is hard to believe but it is true. So why do I bring this up you ask? I recently had an encounter while officiating a squirt game (yes I said squirt) with an assistant coach on the bench. To me it is part of hockey where as there will be disagreements in the heat of the moment but if a coach and/or assistant wants the respect they deserve from an official, the same is expected out of them and that was not the case today. Continue reading »
Dec 072009
Nov 162009
There has been a lot of talk about hits from behind, high hits and head contact this season in all levels of hockey and today I want to talk about the youth level. From a referee’s prospective on a hit from behind, it is cut and dry. You either did it or you didn’t and the only variable should be the severity of the hit and whether it takes place around the board or the open ice.
For those of you that don’t know, the penalty for a hit from behind can be a minor with a misconduct for the less severe hits like at open ice or a major plus a game misconduct and possibly a disqualification or match(USA Rules). Referee’s have to look at intent, injury and whether the offending player was trying to back off of the hit as well as the area of the ice on where the hit took place. Continue reading »
There is a sports saying that says there is no “I” in team, but there is a “U” in you suck. That would be yousuck.com, a site that loves to bash guys like me….referees. No matter what, we only please half the fans in any given game and guess who is unhappy this time?
Apparently this “group” was unhappy with the job that the referees in Monday nights Toronto/Anaheim game. Ducks fans were bitching that the referees were giving the win-less Toronto Maple Leafs “favorable” calls which lead to 5 power play goals and the Leafs first victory of the season.
Before tonight’s game in Anaheim the makers of anti-ref gear, Ref You Suck will be sponsoring an anti-referee rally to voice their unhappiness with Mondays game. They will be out there with signs and shirts in front of the Honda Center acting like fools.
Referees and officials in general have been under fire since the whole MLB playoff issue when the umpires clearly missed some big calls in a few of those games. But protesting and rallies? What is this the 60′s? Give me a break, this is a disaster waiting to happen and I wish I could be there to see it.
Instead of blaming the officials in Monday nights game why can’t Duck fans accept the fact that they lost. Were the penalties uneven? Yes they were as the the Leafs had 10 pp to the Ducks 3 , so what. I don’t know of any official that has called a game according to the score or standings, it is what it is. We see 2 colored jerseys out there, not teams or players nor did I ever read a rule about teams should have equal power play attempts in a game.
I was looking at the score sheet and with the exception of 2 hooking calls, every thing else on the Ducks was roughing, slashing or a misconduct. Those are not marginal calls. The Leafs were the ones with and abuse of an official call.
The bottom line is that The Ducks penalty kill was horrendous to say the least. I don’t care how many fictitious calls you think the officials had, your team still went 5/10 on the penalty kill. 50%! Jonas Hiller played a great game making 33 saves in Giguere’s absence with a groin injury. That brings me to another point, your Ducks got out shot 39-28. Just accept the fact that the Ducks had a bad game and their emotions were their own worse enemies.
Even in the unlikely event that they succeed and get thousands of fans, what did you prove? It will not change the way the officials will call the game tonight or any other night.
Instead of protesting officials, bring that enthusiasm to the White House and fight for health care.
