On Ice Officials named for the finals

[Barrie 900]

Sorry, I just don't buy into conspiracy theories or pro-bias/anti-bias towards sports teams.

I agree.

Bettman doesn't have as much say as some of you here think. The guy is a puppet for the Owners. There's no way the officials have a bias towards a team. If they do, they'll lose their job.

[Reds4Life 51]

Weird. Well, I am not going to complain BEFORE the series actually started. But it is really odd.

McCreary should be there.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

at least sutherland ain't in there. i hope the goal he called off really f***ed him.

[Opie 308]

I agree.

Bettman doesn't have as much say as some of you here think. The guy is a puppet for the Owners. There's no way the officials have a bias towards a team. If they do, they'll lose their job.

The NBA thought the same thing!

There is no way refs would bet on games they would lose their jobs if they did!

/sarcasm

I am not a conspiracy theorist either.

I also don't think there is a conspiracy here, I am just mad that it is supposed to be a reward for the officials based off of performance and the most consistent official isn't there.

I really hope this isn't a series where we talk about officiating for either sides. IMO the best compliment you can give an official is I didn't even notice you were out there. Not because they didn't make calls, but because the calls were accurate and appropriate so you have no reason to specifically remember an incident they had!

Edit: Mad is the wrong word, I guess it bothers me that he isn't there.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Opie

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

While I don't like O'Hallaran being selected, calling it a pro-Penguins conspiracy is going a bit too far I think...

Sorry, I just don't buy into conspiracy theories or pro-bias/anti-bias towards sports teams.

I certainly don't believe in conspiracy theories about reffing being biased, but I do believe in refs that tend to make more judgment calls against a guy simply because of his reputation rather than the play at hand. I'm not saying refs aren't doing the best job they can (because I'm sure the Homer Crease/Dats Goal) was simply a matter of a judgment call, but those types of calls do happen more with certain refs. What I'm saying is that I've noticed fewer poor calls when McCreary is in charge.

Then again, I'd settle for consistency in calls ahead of "good/bad" calls any day.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

The NBA thought the same thing!

There is no way refs would bet on games they would lose their jobs if they did!

/sarcasm

I am not a conspiracy theorist either.

I also don't think there is a conspiracy here, I am just mad that it is supposed to be a reward for the officials based off of performance and the most consistent official isn't there.

I really hope this isn't a series where we talk about officiating for either sides. IMO the best compliment you can give an official is I didn't even notice you were out there. Not because they didn't make calls, but because the calls were accurate and appropriate so you have no reason to specifically remember an incident they had!

Edit: Mad is the wrong word, I guess it bothers me that he isn't there.

I couldn't agree any more with this statement. I've heard this phrase before and I've never forgotten it.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Never Forget Mac #25

[Barrie 900]

at least sutherland ain't in there. i hope the goal he called off really f***ed him.

I wouldn't doubt it. While the whole thing was going on, I was wondering if that call would screw him out of working the finals.

As much as we'd like to think that refs are out to get us, the last thing the NHL and the Head of Officiating would want is a conspiracy, especially after what the NBA went through.

[wingslogo19 281]

Stanley Cup Officials

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The National Hockey League has announced the On-Ice Officials selected to work the Stanley Cup Finals that start this Saturday in Detroit.

The Officials selected are:

Referees: Paul Devorski, Marc Joannette, Dan O'Halloran and Brad Watson.

Linesmen: Shane Heyer, Jean Morin, Pierre Racicot and Jay Sharrers.

The NHLOA would like to congratulate the Officials selected.

Great

[VM1138 1,921]

Kiss the Cup goodbye fellas. McCreary was our only hope of a fair series.

EDIT: I always reject conspiracy theories, but reffing the Cup Finals is based on merit, yes? Then don't you find it funny that the most established ref int he game (McCreary) is out, and a guy who has screwed up and made more controversial calls than any other is in to replace him?

Edited May 21, 2008 by VM1138

[wingsgirl001 983]

What the HELL. O'Halloran over McCreary?! :nonono:

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Kiss the Cup goodbye fellas. McCreary was our only hope of a fair series.

EDIT: I always reject conspiracy theories, but reffing the Cup Finals is based on merit, yes? Then don't you find it funny that the most established ref int he game (McCreary) is out, and a guy who has screwed up and made more controversial calls than any other is in to replace him?

The series hasn't even started yet, don't be ridiculous.

[LIDDYGIBBY5 1]

I agree.

Bettman doesn't have as much say as some of you here think. The guy is a puppet for the Owners. There's no way the officials have a bias towards a team. If they do, they'll lose their job.

Look what happened in the NBA with the official who was betting on the games he was working. Sometimes professional leagues don't care what their officials do as long as the outcome is beneficial to the bottom line. Don't tell me that the league couldn't find a pattern in his games. If you think that the NHL front office isn't pulling for the kid that they have made the face of hockey, you have to be crazy. I have a real bad feeling about how the calls are going to go.

[Guest nutz2u]

Look what happened in the NBA with the official who was betting on the games he was working. Sometimes professional leagues don't care what their officials do as long as the outcome is beneficial to the bottom line. Don't tell me that the league couldn't find a pattern in his games. If you think that the NHL front office isn't pulling for the kid that they have made the face of hockey, you have to be crazy. I have a real bad feeling about how the calls are going to go.

You betcha, our faceoff win percent will prolly equal our penalty against percent.

Edited May 21, 2008 by nutz2u

[BlueMonk 102]

O'Halloran?

[Sergeiwasmyfav 0]

I don't think there is any conspiracy going on or anything like that, and I'm sure the refs will do the best job they can officiating. I am really surprised McCreary isn't there as well, but maybe these other guys will do alright. All through the playoffs the fans of every team that Pittsburgh has played have thought that the refs were out to get them, but I have watched almost every game these playoffs, and I don't think that was the case at all. What I saw was inferior teams getting burned by Pittsburgh's speed up front and then being forced to take penalties because they could not keep up any other way. I think that the Wings have a better defense and better defensive-forwards than any team Pittsburgh has played so far, so hopefully this will not be as much of an issue for us.

[akustyk 84]

look at the bright side of this. there's no Magoo and no VanCouver.

in is O'Halloran who's definitely the brutal choice here, but I've been

worse disasters happen

[Turkey 0]

I seem to recall hearing at one point that we were going to see some of the younger officials later in the playoffs and the older guys out. Apparently the zebras are in rebuilding mode, trying to season a few of the officials that have never been this deep.

[CrossoverThrash 0]

This bodes far better for the pens

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Hopefully the league has instructed O'Halloran to atone for his horrible calls against us, by making a few cheap calls that go in our favor during critical moments.

He owes us that much.

[savaking72 0]

WE ARE SCREWWED

[Opie 308]

WE ARE SCREWWED

Those of you with this thought process, the conspiracy theorists:

IF the wings win the cup will you be back on here to post that the Refs were legit or do you just post like this to have a built in excuse in case the wings lose?

[wingsfan75 2]

Seroiusly, why is this such a huge deal. I'm of the belief that the refs are for the most part a non-biased group of guys. I don't really buy into the conspiricy stuff. They'll play and the better team will win. That's how it works 99.9% of the time.

To the guy who said that Devorski hates the Wings, do you know the he's a Metro-Detroiter? Probably not.

[akustyk 84]

To the guy who said that Devorski hates the Wings, do you know the he's a Metro-Detroiter? Probably not.

in F1 you have certain Max (Von) Mosley who's Brit but does everything possible

to piss poor british F1 teams and favorize Fiarari or Renault.

so the "he's from" factor isn't always positive

[Dabura 12,232]

Hopefully the league has instructed O'Halloran to atone for his horrible calls against us

If by "atone for his horrible calls against us" you mean "keep an eye on that Kronwall guy's elbows," then yes, I'm sure it has.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

O'Halloran over McCreary?

Boy NHL, keep up the good work of never getting anything right.