Refs Suck. Fans Groan.
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It happens a couple of times a year. Sometimes in the playoffs. Other times in the game that wins the Stanley Cup.
Blown calls.
They seriously suck when you’re on the wrong side, and you’re kinda embarrassed if you’re on the right side. If fans hold their team’s players to a high standard, then they have an impossibly high standard for referees. And I don’t blame them. A player will admit to a mistake pretty regularly. But NHL refs — well, their boss actually — just as often put on this air of infallibility as though their fecal matter is odorless. No matter how bad the call, the NHL will always find a way to justify the on-ice call. And if they can’t, they fall back on the overused mantra, “well, we’re only human.”
Here’s how a set of humans seriously fucked up on Tuesday night (courtesy TSN):
On Tuesday, Derek Roy scored the game-winning goal on a 4-on-4 just 66 seconds into the third period in a 5-2 Buffalo Sabres win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Roy got in behind the Flyers’ defence and broke in alone on Martin Biron, beating the goaltender on the stick side.
It was a highlight reel goal, but one that should have been disallowed because the Sabres had five skaters on the ice.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Flyers head coach John Stevens after the game. “Mental Lapse? The guy was on the ice by 60 feet. They had five guys on the ice..they totally missed the call.”
And in a quick poll conducted by TSN with 10 NHL general managers asking if video replay should be considered, all of them gave a flat-out no.”
I’m sure TSN’s “quick poll” with their atrocious squad of flunky GMs (Milbury, Ferguson, et al.) consisted of this:
TSN: If you still want a paycheck from us, answer “no” to the following question. Do you think vid—
GMs: No.
Maybe if the NHL instituted a type of challenge on a goal, like they have in the NFL where the coach can throw out a challenge flag… Then the Ice Girl could skate out with a flourish, pick up the challenge flag and hand it back to the coach. This idea is gold.
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March 6th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Well to be fair, NO ONE saw that one. The coaches didn’t notice it from the bench either, not until after watching the replay. None of the players pointed it out either. Obviously it’s not the coach’s job to notice those things, but still. And I can see being outraged if the game was 3-2 and it was the deciding goal, but that was not the case.
Not to defend the refs, however. I was just saying myself that they seem to be getting worse every year. This year especially I’ve seen so many bad calls that have cost teams a lot of points.
March 7th, 2008 at 6:42 am
I was at this game and after that goal the entire arena with all of it’s fans packed in was completely deflated. Sure the game was a 5-2 loss but there is no defending this lack of officiating. It’s THEIR JOB!! What is the point of having 2 refs and 2 linesman on the ice if they don’t make the right calls. Are they simply there to create more odd man situations and not actually get the calls right?
I am completely fed up with the officiating in this league. From the Red Wing’s Holmstrom having goals taken away for simply standing in front of the net to the Flyer’s Upshall getting crosschecked into the ice with a ref staring 5 feet away. Call penalties, not the game.
March 10th, 2008 at 10:48 am
[…] of the blown call last Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres. It seems that fans in NHL cities around the league are saying the same thing. 4 officials are out on the ice…and not one could count? What about […]