Strange Change

[PotbellyJoe 10]

How is it that in the regular season we were the 2nd to least in penalty min per game at 8.8, to now in the playoffs being at 13.9, with 16 minutes a game in this round 2 (too small of a sample size to really ***** over)?

I just don't get it.

Are the refs really this bad? I have only listened to the first two games on XM as I was driving to see family. Someone fill me in.

[sixer 37]

Yes, the Refs are this bad.

[Guest Crymson]

How is it that in the regular season we were the 2nd to least in penalty min per game at 8.8, to now in the playoffs being at 13.9, with 16 minutes a game in this round 2 (too small of a sample size to really ***** over)?

I just don't get it.

Are the refs really this bad? I have only listened to the first two games on XM as I was driving to see family. Someone fill me in.

I think I'm reaching the snapping point so far as anger goes, so I'm going to avoid getting into it.

[whitewolf406 3]

I made the same observation after the 1st game, and after this abortion the stripes have decided we are the reincarnation of the Anaheim Duck's. After 44 years of watching hockey, I realize the axiom of letting them play in the playoffs is officially over. I guess there's to much at $take for the league.The blatant inconsistencies in not just a spot or two in a game, but tonight the better part of the 3rd period combined with some of the high-jinks in many of the series in the 1st round are getting to be to much to swallow. A bad or missed call once in a while is expected in sports, but when the refereeing at most middle school sporting events is better and more consistent than paid professionals in the NHL you have to wonder. Much like watching the average TV sitcom, my friends and I predicted when penalties would be called and when they wouldn't. I have a feeling I know what the story line of the rest of the playoffs is going to be, and no I don't hear black helicopters every time I walk outside. I cant' remember the last time I felt like this after watching any game not just one of ours.

[titanium2 867]

Wish Babs would have more moments like these:

"They gotta decide; I just coach the game I don't get to referee it."

[brett 1,029]

How is it that in the regular season we were the 2nd to least in penalty min per game at 8.8, to now in the playoffs being at 13.9, with 16 minutes a game in this round 2 (too small of a sample size to really ***** over)?

I just don't get it.

Are the refs really this bad? I have only listened to the first two games on XM as I was driving to see family. Someone fill me in.

i brought this up last game! who was it that said the refs favor the wings? fiddler? clearly favor us haha

[Guest mjtm77]

You get penalties for skating beside the golie bert

[b.shanafan14 733]

Hockey stopped in April, its soccer season now.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

And the League always promises that the games will be called the same way in the playoffs as they are during the regular season...always!

[b.shanafan14 733]

And the League always promises that the games will be called the same way in the playoffs as they are during the regular season...always!

We'd be lucky if they were consistent from one period to the next, forget about one game to another, one series to another, or regular season to playoffs. I always hope they just let them play and let the players decide the game on the ice, and I'm always disappointed.

[Octopus's Garden 147]

We'd be lucky if they were consistent from one period to the next, forget about one game to another, one series to another, or regular season to playoffs. I always hope they just let them play and let the players decide the game on the ice, and I'm always disappointed.

This is what bothers me the most. It's getting harder and harder to determine who the best team is because the refs are playing such a gigantic role in these games.

[b.shanafan14 733]

This is what bothers me the most. It's getting harder and harder to determine who the best team is because the refs are playing such a gigantic role in these games.

The team that plays better should win, period. The refs aren't paid millions of dollars to entertain and compete for the fans, the players are. Let them play. This is true of any sport but amplified in hockey because of the intensity of playoff games and the punishment for infractions. The refs should mediate, that is it!

[Opie 308]

I know the conversion from Soccer to Hockey is not an easy step but bare with me:

I have a theory about bad refering in all sports, it has to do with the fact that these athletes seek out every physical, mental, and emotional means to make them better. During the season, after the season, and just before it starts. Being a pro athlete is a 24-7, 365 job of being the absolute best you can be.

Being a ref means showing up, knowing the rules, and how to skate. Sure their is a little more to it than that but those are the basics correct.

Well the refs are not making strides to improve themselves and can not be let go due to age. Players on the other hand have a very very limited career, age wise.

The refs are catching up to their twilight years and the league has got to be about as young as it has been in a long time.

Refs can not keep up with the game.

But then the ice berg showed through:

This weekend I am watching MLS (yeah I was THE guy) NE Revs verse FC Dallas the ref threw out 10 yellow cards and two red cards, for infractions his tubby ass was way too far a way to call.

Being out of shape he was out of position the entire game, and after giving out cards for hard (not dirty) tackles, players who then got tackled with no call started getting chippy.

So the ref decides to end the chippyness, two red cards boom for a relatively weak couple of fouls. Here is the problem, and this is were it relates to Hockey:

He was out of position the whole game, making calls on what he thought he saw. His non calls were as infuriating to the players as his calls were.

The players had no clue what was legit and what wasn't. Reffing in soccer has been light years worse than even the NBA, so this is really what we have to look forward to.

Think about it you will see similarities, in the last world cup there was an official who was touted to be the most inconsistent and worse ref in the Eufa cup the year before, he did a couple of key games and messed them up badly, badly. Then he gets big games in the World cup. Really officiating that has proven to be even further below par than the accepted norm, and he gets the biggest games.

IMO the bigger the game the more the Refs feel like they need to be a part of the outcome.

So in my little theory you have, officials who cannot keep up with the speed and size of these athletes, are only getting older, and now have so many confusing rules that are open to interpretation, they worry about the league overturning their calls.

Phantom calls followed by ridiculous no calls will be the norm, get used to, the game we love is being infested by referees. They were always a part of the game, now it seems like they are always a part of the outcome, good or bad for the Wings it is bad for the game.

Opie off his soap box for now!

[HOCKEY MATTERS 167]

I began watching the Wings in the early 70's. That's when I became a hockey fan. Even through the "Dead Wings" era, when they used to lure fans in by giving away cars. I've been through a lot with my beloved Wings.

I stopped being a fan of the NHL long ago. After last night's game I am having trouble calling myself a hockey fan. What happened last night was not hockey. The spirit of hockey is in danger of dying for fans like me that remember what it used to be. Maybe that is ok with the NHL. Maybe a newer, younger, "conditioned" fan can accept last night's outcome because they haven't been witness to the "old days", and therefore be less bothered by the amount of impact referee's are having on the outcome of games. Maybe these newer fans have come to expect referee participation in the outcome of games and are not "surprised" by it. Maybe this is how the NHL sees it. I don't think they care if they lose me as a fan. I'm ok with that.

I just hope the Red Wings stay true to form and battle through the 10 on 5 hockey, and find a way to win. When the refs play a trap that the Wings can no longer figure out, my reason for watching will be gone.

Thanks, Gary.

[ManLuv4Clears 7]

I began watching the Wings in the early 70's. That's when I became a hockey fan. Even through the "Dead Wings" era, when they used to lure fans in by giving away cars. I've been through a lot with my beloved Wings.

I stopped being a fan of the NHL long ago. After last night's game I am having trouble calling myself a hockey fan. What happened last night was not hockey. The spirit of hockey is in danger of dying for fans like me that remember what it used to be. Maybe that is ok with the NHL. Maybe a newer, younger, "conditioned" fan can accept last night's outcome because they haven't been witness to the "old days", and therefore be less bothered by the amount of impact referee's are having on the outcome of games. Maybe these newer fans have come to expect referee participation in the outcome of games and are not "surprised" by it. Maybe this is how the NHL sees it. I don't think they care if they lose me as a fan. I'm ok with that.

I just hope the Red Wings stay true to form and battle through the 10 on 5 hockey, and find a way to win. When the refs play a trap that the Wings can no longer figure out, my reason for watching will be gone.

Thanks, Gary.

Great post HM.

[whitewolf406 3]

I began watching the Wings in the early 70's. That's when I became a hockey fan. Even through the "Dead Wings" era, when they used to lure fans in by giving away cars. I've been through a lot with my beloved Wings.

I stopped being a fan of the NHL long ago. After last night's game I am having trouble calling myself a hockey fan. What happened last night was not hockey. The spirit of hockey is in danger of dying for fans like me that remember what it used to be. Maybe that is ok with the NHL. Maybe a newer, younger, "conditioned" fan can accept last night's outcome because they haven't been witness to the "old days", and therefore be less bothered by the amount of impact referee's are having on the outcome of games. Maybe these newer fans have come to expect referee participation in the outcome of games and are not "surprised" by it. Maybe this is how the NHL sees it. I don't think they care if they lose me as a fan. I'm ok with that.

I just hope the Red Wings stay true to form and battle through the 10 on 5 hockey, and find a way to win. When the refs play a trap that the Wings can no longer figure out, my reason for watching will be gone.

Thanks, Gary.

THIS!

[Dimaline312000 51]

It's Bettman making sure we don't make it to the Finals again so his precious Penguins and his Bastard Son Crosby gets back 2 back Cups.