NHL: Requiem for Marian

I will lay this out there. But Zetterberg's "interference" with a lot of help is something I hate. The center Ice ref has no place in the game. And when he calls the wrong penalty when the zone ref is looking right ate it just infuriates me. Since its ineption I have never seen that position make a positive difference on a game. It is like having the first or second base umpire calling balls and strikes(save for swings over the plane on appeal).

And in every one of these games, save 5 at the end when Pittsburgh just lost all composure. I feel like the refs have called ticky-tack penalties just to have something to do. Not a lot, but not at times where an overt penalty has been done. Zetterberg interfered apparently, but that blatant headhunting, 5 step check on Datsyuk was not charging? That is what I don't get from the ref in this series. The number of offsides called that did not leave the zone in game six also really perplexed me..

I think a lot of people, including the league, struggle with the rules. Is that interference? Is it not? The same call can change over the years. Can you stand on top of the goalie? I don't know, what year is it? Of all the complaints about hockey that I hear, the one that I find hardest to refute is the seemingly random calls. Every couple of years the league says that they are going to be more consistent, but that rarely makes it out of the preseason alive.

Poppinfresh wrote:

Of all the complaints about hockey that I hear, the one that I find hardest to refute is the seemingly random calls. Every couple of years the league says that they are going to be more consistent, but that rarely makes it out of the preseason alive.

Until it does, one cannot expect the NHL to come up from the bottom of the team sports list. When not even the referees can answer a basic rules question (such as when is one allowed to hit another player), it's no wonder that the NBA had more than twice the rating for a game 3 which aired the same night as the NHL's game 6.

CannibalCrowley wrote:

Until it does, one cannot expect the NHL to come up from the bottom of the team sports list. When not even the referees can answer a basic rules question (such as when is one allowed to hit another player), it's no wonder that the NBA had more than twice the rating for a game 3 which aired the same night as the NHL's game 6.

Hockey is a winter sport and is not very democratic-- it's very expensive to play it and you need an ice rink whereas most other team sports require either just a patch of grass or some asphalt.

The rules getting in the way of its popularity? I don't think so. Since the dawn of man, when the first referee started making calls, people have complained about the decisions due to bias. That's not going to change!

CannibalCrowley wrote:

Until it does, one cannot expect the NHL to come up from the bottom of the team sports list. When not even the referees can answer a basic rules question (such as when is one allowed to hit another player), it's no wonder that the NBA had more than twice the rating for a game 3 which aired the same night as the NHL's game 6.

And hockey is crazy popular here in Canada because we love anarchy in our sports? Basing popularity on rules cohesion is a pretty long stretch.

I understand the complaints with officiating but hockey is a damn hard sport to ref. It moves very quickly and there is plenty of contact. Refs are going to blow some calls, no doubt about it. Reffing during this last series has been pretty good, I have to say. Some missed calls here and there, but they've let the players play and the resulting hockey has been excellent. No complaints here.

CannibalCrowley wrote:

Until it does, one cannot expect the NHL to come up from the bottom of the team sports list. When not even the referees can answer a basic rules question (such as when is one allowed to hit another player), it's no wonder that the NBA had more than twice the rating for a game 3 which aired the same night as the NHL's game 6.

Too add to what's been said about this already, let's keep in mind that BB is part of american culture. We play this game from the time we're kids. Kobe Bryant is one of the biggest celebrities in the nation. Grab your average american sports fan off the street and ask him to name you a player currently active in the NHL, and odds are he couldn't give you one. Even names like Crosby and Ovechkin, who we as fans think are household words, really aren't.

But the NHL is headed in the right direction, however much those stodgy old hosers up north Female Doggo about the sorry state of the game. The competition is far superior to that of the NBA, and the league benefits from the direct comparison. I've won over a few new fans just by flipping back and forth between the two playoff series on the lounge TV at work. The NHL has a great product that they're constantly working to improve, and they're making small but steady gains as a result.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

GO PENS!!!!!

And the fans justified another major reason why I HATE the Red Wings. Booing during the awards? Absolutely NO class.

PAR

par wrote:

Booing during the awards? Absolutely NO class.
PAR

They were booing Bettman.

Bwahahahahahahaha! Eat it, Redwings!

magnus wrote:
par wrote:

Booing during the awards? Absolutely NO class.
PAR

They were booing Bettman.

So all the REAL loud boo's that continued when Malkin got his award were...

And all the REAL LOUD boo's that continued when Crosby took the cup were...

uh huh, go watch it again.

Go Pens! (oh yea, and Im an Avs fan =/)

PAR

I didn't hear that because I was in a bar. People here were happy that the Penguins won.

I think it's fair, 1 win each

The only real loser there was Marian Hossa. Poor sob

interstate78 wrote:

I didn't hear that because I was in a bar. People here were happy that the Penguins won.

I think it's fair, 1 win each

The only real loser there was Marian Hossa. Poor sob

I don't pity him at all. Took less money because he wanted to "hold the cup." Jackass.

NSMike wrote:

I don't pity him at all. Took less money because he wanted to "hold the cup." Jackass.

I don't know, I don't hate Hossa as much as everyone else does 'round here. And I found his reason to be acceptable, he just placed his bet on the wrong team and it's not even that bad of a bet. I suppose the only nobler thing he could've done was to take less money with the Pens to 'help them built a young team and bring the Cup here.'

Bah, enough about Hossa, woohoo Pens - what an awesome season! 3 months ago we were worrying that they aren't gonna make the playoff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkLt3...

nihilo wrote:

And hockey is crazy popular here in Canada because we love anarchy in our sports? Basing popularity on rules cohesion is a pretty long stretch.

Are you more likely to watch a sport where you understand the rules or one where you don't? After a single football game most people will be able to tell you when a player can be hit; but not even the NHL referees can agree on that simple question.

nihilo wrote:

I understand the complaints with officiating but hockey is a damn hard sport to ref. It moves very quickly and there is plenty of contact. Refs are going to blow some calls, no doubt about it. Reffing during this last series has been pretty good, I have to say. Some missed calls here and there, but they've let the players play and the resulting hockey has been excellent. No complaints here.

If the playoffs had "some" missed calls, then your standards are pretty low. The officiating has been horrible and that's even considering the "playoff rules" that refs start using when the season ends. There are only 3 reasons for that many blown calls:

  • The rules are too vague.
  • Too many incompetent referees.
  • Too many crooked referees.
NSMike wrote:

I don't pity him at all. Took less money because he wanted to "hold the cup." Jackass.

That's not as bad as playing like crap in game seven. He was an on-demand turnover machine.

par wrote:

So all the REAL loud boo's that continued when Malkin got his award were...

What were the Pens fans chanting last year when Zetterberg got the Smythe?

I think some of the boos at one point was for how long some Pens were celebrating and holding up the handshake line. Which is fair enough. You won celebrate but also go shake hands so the other guys don't have to mill around watching you celebrate.

CannibalCrowley wrote:
nihilo wrote:

I understand the complaints with officiating but hockey is a damn hard sport to ref. It moves very quickly and there is plenty of contact. Refs are going to blow some calls, no doubt about it. Reffing during this last series has been pretty good, I have to say. Some missed calls here and there, but they've let the players play and the resulting hockey has been excellent. No complaints here.

If the playoffs had "some" missed calls, then your standards are pretty low. The officiating has been horrible and that's even considering the "playoff rules" that refs start using when the season ends. There are only 3 reasons for that many blown calls:

  • The rules are too vague.
  • Too many incompetent referees.
  • Too many crooked referees.

One person's 'some' is another person's 'ton', I guess. Do you have any complaints with game 7? I maybe saw one or two calls that were missed and few borderlines that the refs let go. There was one non-call in particular that I was impressed with. The hockey on ice was superb and the players had every opportunity to win the game. Kudos to the refs last night for a job well done.

Hockey is a damn hard sport to officiate, but I've said that already. It's best compared to officiating soccer or rugby where a ref has done well if the game goes past without any glaring miscalls. Football as an entirely different animal - you have many more eyes and more stoppages in play where the refs can take the time to get the call right.

I've reffed kids roughly 15-7 and a little low-level amateur stuff. It's not too hard at those levels because everything moves fairly slowly. The only problem is with judgment calls, and that can largely be dealt with through communication, which the fans aren't really going to see, and consistency.

The NHL is a totally different beast. Those guys are quick and dedicated. At that level, it has to be hard to see everything, which I think is some of why we see things like retaliations getting called instead of the original foul. That said, everyone out there knows how it works, so shame on you for retaliating. There will always be frustration at the calls, because there's a lot of judgment involved. I'd agree with nihilo, I think the refs generally did a great job in the series. It's a tough and thankless job, and there certainly are bad calls and poorly reffed games, but I don't think this series was one of them.

As for the Pens, great win. I didn't think they could keep their composure, but they survived the initial onslaught and responded. For the first time in the series, they had the Red Wings on their heels for a while. Bylsma did a wonderful job at turning the team around and adapting to the other team's styles of play.

I will take game to game consistency over making sure each call in ,ovember is mirrored in April. Don't give a wide berth in one period, and crack down in another. Anything dangerous must be called-slashes, high sticks, charging, boarding, tripping. Too many games where in period one there were ticky tack hooks and in 2/3 charges and water-skiing was left alone. The center ice ref cannot make a call that the zone ref does not call, this means hooking, interference. The spirit of the position is to be there on the breakout and to see late penalties from said breakout. Not to pretend you have eagle eyes from 50 feet away.

Nevermind, I'll make a new thread.

Yeah I think this one has run its course for regular and post season.