Officiating

[franko]

Seems that we read of poor officiating in many threads . . . why not pull everything together?

From the missed call(s) on Williams to the high stick that wasn't called in Edmonton last night, officiating has been -- at the very least -- inconsistent.

Although Mr. Buttman seems to think all is well in the new NHL. Hmmm.

[franko]

Confusion becomes 'the standard' for refs

Just like players, officials slowly find the middle ground

Mark Spector, National Post
Published: Tuesday, May 02, 2006

EDMONTON - It will go down as the great oxymoron of the 2006 National Hockey League playoffs: "The Standard."

Of course it is anything but, and that's what makes everyone so crazy. Because as the first playoffs in the era of non-obstruction approaches the end of Round 1, it's not "the standard" that bothers most people. It's the fact that it's still an ever-changing, ever-moving target.

In the Edmonton-Detroit series, there has been two separate "standards" depending on which referees were drawn.

Then there is the standard within "the standard," which has seen a veteran such as Chris Chelios get away with murder on most nights, and Edmonton's Chris Pronger miraculously logging 34:42 of ice time each game but without having incurred even his first minor penalty heading into last night's Game 6.

Edmonton tried to insert rookie Matt Greene into the lineup for a game. Bad idea. Three minors later, he hasn't seen the game-day roster since.

"Some nights you think it's a good play, but you end up in the penalty box," said Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit's big winger. "The game is better for sure -- more back and forth, more fun to play for sure. Especially going to the net. You don't get three crosschecks before you even get there. When the puck gets there, everything starts again, but that's how it's supposed to be."

How it's supposed to be? As if anyone has that figured out.

We've never seen the standard change faster than it did Saturday in Calgary, when the refereeing tandem of Marc Joannette and Dean Warren rewrote their criteria -- or had it rewritten for them -- between the first and second periods of Game 5 between the Flames and Mighty Ducks.

Joannette and Warren -- the NHL's version of Siegfried and Roy, who can produce penalties out of thin air like a Vegas act -- were the ones who overcalled Game 4 of Edmonton-Detroit, sprinkling a handful of phantom calls among the 20 power plays handed out. Then they hustled down Highway 2 to work Game 5 of Anaheim-Calgary, and after they started sprinkling their fairy dust again in the first period with three minors to each team, something interesting happened.

It stopped. Sometime during the 17-minute intermission, the standard took a hard right turn. You'd think, and we're only guessing here, that Kevin Collins, the long-time linesman who is fulfilling the newly minted position of Series Manager for that series, stormed down from the press box, walked into the officials dressing room, and said: "Not in my series, boys."

Because the rest of the way, not only did the zebras resort to waiting for an actual infraction before they raised their arm, that infraction took on a completely different definition from what these eyes had seen through the previous four periods of official intervention by Joannette and Warren.

So the league is watching, men, and as it turns out, you referees aren't any different than the players.

You'll have to find the middle ground too, just like the players, between what's good for the game and what isn't. If there's an offensive chance involved, then call it. If the puck's already turned up ice and someone steps on someone else's stick, nobody wants to hear your whistle. Maybe not even your bosses.

You have to have resided in a small NHL market to truly get the impact of what the new system meant to teams like Calgary and Edmonton.

It was as more mental than anything -- just knowing that you were going to war with the same calibre of gun as the big boys.

And if you were one of those who looked at the regular season standings, saw that Dallas, Detroit, New Jersey and Philadelphia were all right back around the top again, and wondered what all the fuss was all about? Check out the first round. That's what it was all about.

How did Buffalo get a 3-2 lead on Philly? They read the tea leaves on the New NHL a lot better than did Bob Clarke, who signed Old NHL guys such as Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje, and appear better equipped for the new game. Better management, thus far anyhow, has not been overcome by a better budget.

Why is Edmonton giving Detroit all it can handle? Because Edmonton chose depth over star power up front, and are wearing down the Wings. Detroit had to scrimp somewhere to get in under the cap, and the decision to do that in goal with Manny Legace does not look like a wise one.

All of that makes for an opponent who believes in itself, which offsets some of the mighty Red Wings' swagger.

"We believe that our best will be good enough now," Oiler Ethan Moreau said. "The acquisitions we made ... the players in this room -- we want to make a long run."

As for Detroit's Dan Cleary -- a depth guy considered expendable by Edmonton who now toils for Detroit -- he sees a difference as well. "I've been here when we should have beaten Dallas, but never did," he said in the visitor's dressing room at Rexall Place. "I think the atmosphere is different around here. I think the fans have more of a belief."

Which means Detroit might have had that much less, for a change.
© National Post 2006

[clear observer]

I've been saying for decades that the NHL is, if not the worst, among the very-worst officiated leagues in ALL professional sports. Truly horrid, of epic proportions.

CO

[Skilly]

admin said:

I've been saying for decades that the NHL is, if not the worst, among the very-worst officiated leagues in ALL professional sports. Truly horrid, of epic proportions.

CO

I have to disagree.

In order of best officiated to worst officiated.
1) NFL - they make a hair-brain call at least once a game but for the most part they are consistent. And given that most are old men it is truly amazing they can even see the infractions. But what do you expect with just as many officials on the field as players.

2) MLB - For the most part the bases are called accurately / consistent. The biggy for this sport is that every umpire's strike zone is different, and it gets smaller every darn year! I have seen one pitch called a strike and the next pitch in the "exact" same spot called a ball.

3) NHL - The officiating is attrocious. It is so wildly inconsistent that it is hard to judge from period to period. The officiating can have a dramatic effect on the game but for the most part does not decide the game.

4) NBA - By far the worst officiated league in all of pro-sports. A rookie can take two steps , a veteran can take as many as you want. Travelling never called, unless you are a rookie ... every play in basketball has a foul that is not called. And the ones that are called are questionable. How many games have you seen a 20 point lead evaporate because the refs call everything to get the team losing back in the game ... it is all about the entertainment value. This league is a total joke. The are about 31 different set of rules. One for the best player of every team and then another for the other players. I can't even watch it because the officiating decides EVERY game.