"Playoff Hockey" Officiating

[Jake Ryan 1]

I have to say that I like a game with only 2 or 3 power plays for each side, but only if the game is being played very cleanly. "Playoff Hockey" always seems to translate into "Screw the Red Wings out of 3 or 4 calls a night Hockey", so I think I'd rather just have the officials pick a set of rules that they're going to enforce and do it during both seasons. I don't like the fact that we have to beat the other team and beat the referees in each game, as well. That's tough to do year in and year out.

What do you think and/or what do you prefer?

[stillwater 186]

'Yep' ... 'You got that right'.

[David 2]

Yes, I like it. Far fewer phantom hooking calls.

That said, certain teams commit more penalties than others, and it's rough when that isn't reflected in terms of penalty minutes.

[kook_10 1,705]

it is what it is. you have to get beyond it in order to win. you can't fight city hall. there's no use in getting wrapped up in something that's beyond your control. you just have to keep your feet moving and the calls will come. the game is won on the ice not in the box. you just have to take it one day at a time, and good lord willing put some pucks in the net.

[i may have missed a few in there]

Edited May 27, 2009 by kook_10

[Nightfall 871]

I have to say that I like a game with only 2 or 3 power plays for each side, but only if the game is being played very cleanly. "Playoff Hockey" always seems to translate into "Screw the Red Wings out of 3 or 4 calls a night Hockey", so I think I'd rather just have the officials pick a set of rules that they're going to enforce and do it during both seasons. I don't like the fact that we have to beat the other team and beat the referees in each game, as well. That's tough to do year in and year out.

What do you think and/or what do you prefer?

I routinely watch every Hawks/Wings game with a variety of friends. Some of them Hawks fans, some Wings fans. Through the entire game, I probably get about 30 comments from BOTH sides at various times of the game pointing out a bad call or a "missed call". You say "screw the wings out of 3 or 4 calls a night". Hell, the Hawks fans have been saying "screw the Hawks out of 3 or 4 calls a night".

So who is right? It lies somewhere in the middle.

[Opie 308]

This year seems to me to be the worst year for officiating in a long long time, every series I have watched has had horribly botched calls followed by even worse make up calls.

In general the NHL playoffs have been horribly officiated for all, not just the Wings, for all teams.

C-Bus, ANA, CHI have all gotten screwed by calls in the same games that helped them, and in games that they couldn't buy a call.

Officiating is now one end to another, as in you have no idea what you are going to get from one end to another.

The league needs to do something, implement a rating/scoring system, more thorough review of what they expect from a call, and most importantly the league needs to make it clear what is and what is not a penalty!

[Bad Vlad Forever 1]

I don't think it's a playoff issue as much as it's an old-vs-new nhl issue. You can call any number of offenses every time a team skates end to end, it's just a matter of what should be called consistently

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I have to say that I like a game with only 2 or 3 power plays for each side, but only if the game is being played very cleanly. "Playoff Hockey" always seems to translate into "Screw the Red Wings out of 3 or 4 calls a night Hockey", so I think I'd rather just have the officials pick a set of rules that they're going to enforce and do it during both seasons. I don't like the fact that we have to beat the other team and beat the referees in each game, as well. That's tough to do year in and year out.

What do you think and/or what do you prefer?

Bad/missed calls work both ways for both teams in any sport. There's no conspiracy to get any team, nobody is out to screw the Wings. Bad calls are going to happen when human error gets involved. Different refs have different styles in any sport where some like to call everything, some like to let the guys play a little bit. Lord knows I made plenty of bad calls when I officiated intramural basketball and soccer leagues in college.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Honestly, I'm so used to the poor officiating that I rarely get angry about it anymore.. UNLESS it's like that no goal call in game 3 against Anaheim. Then I'm furious about it.

As far as I'm concerned, bad officiating is just part of the sport. We, as the fans, have a better view of what's going on down on the ice because we're kind of looking through a birds eye view. The refs don't always see everything they do and as such.. they make mistakes. I'm not a fan of it but I understand it.

[RoninJai 5]

Honestly, I'm so used to the poor officiating that I rarely get angry about it anymore.. UNLESS it's like that no goal call in game 3 against Anaheim. Then I'm furious about it.

As far as I'm concerned, bad officiating is just part of the sport. We, as the fans, have a better view of what's going on down on the ice because we're kind of looking through a birds eye view. The refs don't always see everything they do and as such.. they make mistakes. I'm not a fan of it but I understand it.

The problem, is it's not so much the bad officiating when it comes to stuff like phantom hooks or interference. I understand it's a fast game, and you're not gonna catch all that stuff. It's the BIG stuff that seems to be just WAY too obvious. Scoring a goal after it bounces off the net. Blowing the whistle when the puck is CLEARLY loose, but swallowing it on the other end. Kronner's game misconduct WAY WAY after the fact. This is the kind of stuff that lends some weight to the Wings conspiracists, because they almost always go in the other team's favor. Its that kind of stuff that there needs to be some serious changes to, either in the way of a limited number of coach challenges or something else. Making ANYTHING potentially game changing non-reviewable in this day and age is asinine.

[Datsyerberger 279]

Other than O'Halloran, it's been fine. He consistently gets way too involved. It's not just us Detroit fans.. he always seems to consistently hose one team in a series.

Stuff like the Watson thing, as irritating as it was, happens. That's hockey officiating. Most of its been pretty good.

O'Halloran's just a ****** nozzle to a special degree.

[pirateasaurus 0]

The only game that i felt that we were much more often than not on the short end of the poor officiating stick was game 7 against anaheim. I am disregarding the game 3 no goal as i will blame that on the stupid non-reviewable bullcrap. But honestly, I think some people overreact sometimes about the officiating. There h ave been great games and there have been bad games but i think people really go the extra mile to point this stuff out when it isn't needed. I watch most of these games and see some calls i disagree with but it usually doesn't drive me crazy and then i go here and to our opponent's forum and half the fans for whichever team is losing at the time want the ref's head on a pike.

[Jake Ryan 1]

Other than O'Halloran, it's been fine. He consistently gets way too involved. It's not just us Detroit fans.. he always seems to consistently hose one team in a series.

Stuff like the Watson thing, as irritating as it was, happens. That's hockey officiating. Most of its been pretty good.

O'Halloran's just a ****** nozzle to a special degree.

"****** nozzle" ha ha ha ha ha ha Mind if I steal that?

The one thing that pisses me off to no end is when a referee is out of position and blows his whistle. Take your pick: the official screened by all the players and the goaltender from seeing the puck go in the net because he's not where he's supposed to be (behind the net) OR the referee making a call from center ice when the other official is 10 ft away from the play. I can't stand it when the official blows his whistle when he's not in position to make the call. That is when officiating is at its worse, in my opinion.

[b.shanafan14 733]

I find that there are less phantom calls, but they haven't been taken out completely. Often when the powerplays are given at 1:1 ratios between the two teams, one is getting a slight disadvantage because of the other teams style of play warranting more penalties than they actually receive, ala the Anaheim Ducks series. When this happens you find that the team that deserve less penalties gets called for soft or phantom calls, while the other is given more wiggle room under the rule book.

This is actually how the Ducks have played for a long time. They are the most penalized team in the league a lot of the time, but they deserve even more penalties than they are assessed usually. The theory being that the refs will call the game, but in efforts not to make it completely lopsided on the penalty kill, they let many more penalties go uncalled.

I like my games relatively penalty-free, and I like when they are allowed to play within the rules. My only problem with this style of officiating is that when you let a certain level of obstruction or roughing go all game, all you need to do is call ONE soft penalty, similar or less than what has warranted no penalties the rest of the game to throw that whole "let them play" system out the window.

Unfortunately, hockey is much like football in the fact that on any given play, a holding or interference can be called to some degree, and that many of the rules fall on the refs discretion, which these days in professional sports is a horrible place to leave it with so much on the line.

Edited May 27, 2009 by b.shanafan14

[Firehawk 305]

I wonder sometimes how much we look at the games in a bias manner. I try to be as objective as I can, but even then I still alot of times see the wings getting screwed out of more calls than the opponent does (especially with anaheim). If you go to the anaheim board, or chicago board, they're all saying the exact opposite of what we say: that the refs are in love with us and that they're getting all the s***ty calls and such.

[Nightfall 871]

I wonder sometimes how much we look at the games in a bias manner. I try to be as objective as I can, but even then I still alot of times see the wings getting screwed out of more calls than the opponent does (especially with anaheim). If you go to the anaheim board, or chicago board, they're all saying the exact opposite of what we say: that the refs are in love with us and that they're getting all the s***ty calls and such.

Then you aren't looking at it truely unbiased. Attend a live hockey game between two teams you really don't care about and record the amount of penalities you would call in comparison to the refs. Then you have a truly unbiased situation to compare it to. As it is right now, you are trying to objective, but since you love the Wings you will side with the fact that the Wings are getting screwed.