Nightfall

Sorry, it was a long day for me yesterday. Driving back from Minnesota all in one day was more than I could handle on less than 4 hours of sleep and some bad caffeine. It seems that people think I am giving the refs a get out of jail free card. That isn't the case. I am just saying people demand perfection, which is something that the refs cannot give. Every situation happens very quickly, and the ref is put in a position to make the call or not make it. Was it a dive or not? Was it a high stick? Think about how many other high sticks are missed in the course of other games, not just the Wings games. I believe that the CURRENT system is as good as its going to get. The way the system is today, the refs are doing the best that they can. I personally believe that the NHL refs are the best refs in hockey. They are the best conditioned and most experienced. Did great refs like Kerry Frasier miss calls or make calls that didn't exist? Yes. Do these refs watch tape and learn from their mistakes? Yes. Will they make new mistakes and maybe get duped on a diving call next game? Yes. Point is, even the best refs are not going to call every game 100% correct. Especially when you have 1 million wings fans watching at home on HDTVs and DVRs with Ken and Mick analyzing every play. I firmly believe that employing technology to make reffing better in the game is the best option to perfecting it. Either that or having a ref above ice level watching from a platform at the scorers table. The system as a whole needs to be changed. At the end of the day, when the game is over, I see no reason for a ref to be apologetic other than to make the fans who lost have a whipping boy. At the end of a game I ref, if I screw up, I own up to it with the coaches. Most refs don't even say anything about it. I find this distasteful, but thats just me. In the NHL, the refs really are in a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario. Call a tripping call on a player who just had someone take a dive and a game winning goal was scored on the chance? The ref can apologize all he wants, but the fans are going to be pissed that the TV cameras and slow motion caught the dive and the ref didn't. I still feel that many fans are asking for something that is just way out of the scope of reality.

I am not as much a ref apologist as I am a ref "understandist". I don't agree with the reffing system as a whole right now. I believe that the NHL should use technology to make the system better and more accurate. I believe the system is as good as its going to get. You talk about striving to improve, and well, I don't see how the refs can get any better than they are today without a change to the system of reffing. Either a team of refs who watch a camera system and can slow the play down and call accurate penalties. Another idea was a ref that stands on a platform in the scorers table and watches the game from above. The NHL Combine proved that this worked better than a 2 ref system, but this involves massive changes to the system that the NHL is not ready to take on yet. Otherwise, I totally agree with you. Everything you mentioned in the last paragraph could be fixed with instant replay. Intent to blow? Go to instant replay and look at it. Goalie interference? Check the replay. The refs should be striving for perfection, but the system is as good as it is going to get unless the system changes. Oh, and by the way, it helps to include my entire phrase when you quote me. Do you work for Fox News or something? I suppose it could have been worded differently. The system as a whole does need to be changed in order to make it 100% accurate. If the system doesn't change, then you can blame human perception.

A martyr can be more than just being killed for it. Definition #2 We can both agree on the flawed system. I believe that a lot of the refs ability to call or not call things are their perception on things. Just like some people thought Stuart was tripped on Chicago's first goal, but that wasn't the case. Some refs may have called that a trip, others may have avoided calling it. I think the perception of bad/non/good calls are all in perception of each individual who sees the play unfold. That is where the problem is to be honest. You may look at a set of plays and call different things as opposed to me, or a seasoned ref. The system is working like it should....flawed.

I agree with you. The refs just didn't see the call. You know when a ref sees a high stick it is a penalty EVERY TIME. I was listening to the Hawks radio feed while driving through Chicago and the Franzen high stick happened. Even the announcers thought it was Franzen's own stick that caused it. The refs conferred and no one saw it. Now, if you are advocating that the refs should look at instant replay to determine if there was an infraction, that is a different story. Just make sure you add on about 10-20 minutes of extra time per game for all the instant replays. Then also be ready to see the Wings get nailed for some calls that they otherwise would have gotten away with. I am ok with instant replay being used more often, especially in the cases of high sticking and waived off goals from goalie interference. Could the games be called more consistently? I do. At the same time though, I do have to agree that the refs are being asked to do an impossible job. Call every game 100% accurately. That just isn't going to happen unless the system changes.

The Wings didn't get an afternoon game scheduled so far this year. Afternoon games are ok with me. Especially if they are supposed to be played in Phoenix. Then I can watch them and not have to go into work exhausted the next day.

Put on the stripes and ref sometime. I used to think the same way until I started reffing. These kinds of things are missed at every level of hockey.

Lightning in 7 games is my pick. Pens are missing out on their two big guns. Lightning will get it together and win a very tough series.

FSD has carried the games in the past. Give them a couple days to release their schedule. The game is going to be televised for those of us in MI.

I think that Anaheim is going to really do well in this series. They have 3 big guns in the series, Perry, Getzlaf, and Ryan. I am taking the Ducks in 7.

Ah, a man of few words and little explanation. Let me know if you want to have a serious discussion about refereeing. I offered a lot of discussion points, and you do your best part to sidestep them. Bring up some topics in specific on refereeing and lets have a discussion about them and how we can make them better OR what is wrong with the current system. Give some specifics like I did. I suppose its easier to make yourself look like a martyr.

I still like this schedule. There are a couple days off between Game 1 and 2. Very fair.

I am too. The analysis is great so far.

Sorry to disagree with you. It has been the same since the lockout. If anything, they started very strict and things have gotten a little less strict in the last few years. I would prefer a little more consistency when it comes to calls. Keep the games called the same across the board. Even when the playoffs hit.

The NHL Network is going to be going over all the scheduling right now! We start Wednesday at 7pm EDT.

Explain

They are going to go over each playoff matchup and include dates and game times for each series on the NHL Network at 10pm EDT.

Wings in 5. The Wings will bring their A game in the playoffs. Bryz will steal one game, but the big red machine is going to win this series.

I know I have said it before, but I will say it again.... I am just like the OP. I watch a lot of hockey. The Red Wings are my favorite team, but I love the sport of hockey enough where I will watch just about any game. In all my time watch all this hockey, I really haven't seen any kind of preferential treatment to one team or another. Now, when you watch a lot of hockey, you see a lot of slow motion replays of calls and non calls. When you have the benefit of slow motion replays, it makes it easy for the common fan to say the refs made the wrong or right call, or to say a call should have been made. One thing is certain, as long as human beings are referees, mistakes are going to be made. Human perception is the key, and all calls/non-calls are based on that. The refs are going to be blamed, and never credited. There is no way you are going to improve the current system in terms of calls. Now, they could review no goals when it comes to goalie interference. Otherwise, the last thing we want to do is to introduce slow motion replay across the board. It would be nice to catch the high stick on Franzen that happened in the Chicago game today, but at the same time, for as many as we catch for the Wings, there would be others that would be called against us. The current system is not a flawed system, but the human beings are flawed. Could the NHL get better refs? I don't think so. I have season tickets to the Griffins, and I don't see any great improvement down in the league below. I think the only way to improve the current system is to change the system. Until then, you just have to deal with things the way they are.

Well, if the Hawks win tomorrow, they could be up in 6th which means a date with the Wings in the first round. Wouldn't that be a kick in the balls?

Its these kinds of posts that really irk me. Modano hasn't had a great season thats for sure. I really feel if he was not injured for 3 months, he would have contributed a lot more. This being said, to say the guy lacks heart is really a punch in the balls. This guy had to go through a lot of physical therapy after a skate blade cut through his arm and severed a tendon. It takes a motivated man, a man possessed even, to go through that hell and be ready to play professional hockey in three months. Modano and the rest of the Wings are going to play their hardest in the playoffs. This much I know of. As for him retiring, I surely hope he does as well. Modano is playing Dallas Drake minutes, and Drake knew his time was running short as well in 2008 when the playoffs started. It takes a real man to look on the career he has had and to make tough choices when it comes to moving on. The game of hockey could use a great retired player like Modano. Either working with Shanny at improving the game or working with the Stars as they rebuild. Any forum member that considers themselves to be a Wings fan pointing fingers at the players and saying they have no heart is not a real fan. Back your team, players, and management. They have given the fans everything that they have wanted and then some. No other professional sports team has the record the Wings have had in the last 20+ years.

I agree with this. I also want to say that it is easy to look in hindsight and say we should have never made that decision. At the time when Franzen was signed, it was a great decision. I would have much rather taken Franzen and another player like a Drew Miller than take Hossa.

None of the above. All the teams are going to be tough. I feel there is no perfect match for the Wings when it comes to an ideal opponent this year.

True that

McCollum hasn't been given a stretch of games yet. Just 1-3 in a row. Pearce was given the reigns of the Griffins, but only because Macdonald is up with the Wings. As I said before, the Griffins farm team as a whole needs a shake up. This team has not played to their potential for two straight seasons. You can have the best goalie in the league and if your team is not playing consistent hockey, you are going to lose more than you win. I believe that McCollum needs more time in the minors, but I also believe that the Griffins need a new coach. Someone who is going to step in there and kick them in the ass. Every Friday night, its $1 beers and hot dogs at the game. I always joke that its $1 keg night in the griffins locker room because of the way they play. Hell, they only won 4 games on Friday nights at home this season. They won more on Wednesday night for crying out loud. I really hope the Griffins turn it around next season.

The hawks will be desperate. We will play timid because we will be playing not to get hurt. Hawks will win both games IMHO. Playoffs will be a different story though.