OMG67
Registered User
- Sep 1, 2013
- 10,811
- 6,958
It would make a lot more sense if the referees just established a standard and stuck to it. They shouldn't have "manage" the game. Its not about making sure things are even, and both teams get the same number of PP opportunities. Its about making sure when a player commits an infraction which crosses the line, what ever it is for that game, that it gets called.
If they miss a call, they miss a call, too many times its like a coach complains and the referee defaults to accepting he missed something and tries to make up for it. Best referees I've seen over the years were upfront in admitting they didn't see it, and weren't going to call something they didn't see.
The two referee system has complicated things also, as the two may not have the same standard and one only makes a call to offset what they interpreted to be a weak call by the other official.
The best officials manage games. Whether it is what you are suggesting with respect to the severity of the infraction that will be called consistently or the volume of infractions required prior to making a call, the reality is they manage the game.
It isn’t a matter of evening things up unless the game flow demands it. The team that works harder generally gets more Powerplays. But, when two teams are battling hard in the playoffs, a lot of penalties will go uncalled. Sooner of later you have to pull the whistle out to calm things down and taking two guys off isn’t the answer. So, one guy goes off so the message is sent. BUT, if that is what you do, you balance it off with a similar call against the other team. That was one team isn’t getting an advantage. LEt’s face it, you can’t reign them in without giving a powerplay and it isn’t fair that one team takes the hit for both teams getting a little too out of control.
I have no issues with how the game was officiated yesterday. I didn’t like the Mayer call. But I also thought the O’Brien call was weak under the circumstances BUT, I understood that it was time to calm things down a bit. I knew if Ottawa scored on the PP that one other weak one would get called against Ottawa and it happened. It is what it is. The reality is the game was mostly pretty good. Things didn’t’ get out of control. The teams were mostly afforded an opportunity to play their game. Kudos overall to the officials.