OT - NHL reffing MTL-PIT

Submitted by Oscar Goldman on

I don't know if anyone has been watching the Pens-Habs game (between the Wings obviously), but boy is the fix in again! Pit is getting away with murder, no calls for MTL.  The NHL is becoming a complete joke.

formerlyanonymous

May 6th, 2010 at 9:24 PM ^

And the refs held their whistle on that blatant trip in the last 3 minutes that would have given Montreal a 2 player break away. Or how about that phantom icing that went off a player in the neutral zone?

There was no fix.

JustGoBlue

May 6th, 2010 at 9:27 PM ^

The NHL continues to be a complete joke.

I didn't watch more than the last 2 minutes, so I don't know how bad the officiating actually was, I'm just one of those grammar nazi's, can't stand leaving something uncorrected.

Side note:  Despite the jokiness of it, I still love the NHL, what does that say about me?

MattC87

May 6th, 2010 at 10:12 PM ^

You're a grammar nazi who doesn't know how to pluralize words. That's a tad ironic. You don't get to just add apostrophes where you see fit. Nazis = more than one nazi. Nazi's = Nazi is or something belonging to the Nazi.

Mr. Environmental is also a hunter. That's got to be an interesting combination.

tk47

May 7th, 2010 at 9:42 AM ^

I think what you really mean to say is "douche squad".  See what I did there?  I kill me.

Seriously though, fuck the Penguins.  Bunch of bitches.  I lost any shred of respect for them after how they acted in the 3rd period of Game 5 of the finals last year, taking every cheap shot they could to deliberately hurt somebody.  Lost a lot of respect for the NHL at that point too, for not taking a stand and suspending anybody.

jrt336

May 6th, 2010 at 10:19 PM ^

We all know Bettman is a douche and would just love it if the Pens won again. You could see him rooting against the Wings last year.

Rico616

May 6th, 2010 at 11:20 PM ^

Will people quit blaming so much on the refs? Yes the refs often make bad calls but it never fails, there will always be people complaining about the refs, especially from the losing team. This seems especially true in basketball and hockey.

FreetheFabFive

May 7th, 2010 at 12:11 AM ^

#1  The Canandians won.

#2  Stats don't lie.  Speaking from the Wings POV, the first 3 games, the Sharks had double the amount of power plays as the Wings did.  The Sharks also had four 5 on 3 power plays in the first four games.  I'm sure those stats are skewed now since the Sharks decided to goon it up in game 4.

As an avid NHL fan, the refs are completely HORRIBLE.  Sure, I'll point out the more obvious penalites against the Wings that I think are BS, but I will also do the same when the opposition gets called for BS.  The slash against Phoenix is game 7 which lead to the Wings goal was one of the worst calls I have ever seen.  I would have been absolutely pissed if I was a Coyotes fan.  It's embarassing watching an NHL game with someone new to the game and trying to explain them how one play is a penalty while the exact same play isn't. 

The NBA is self explanitory.  If you think the refs in the NBA are fair, then I have some ocean front property in Arizona that I'd love to sell you.

Seth9

May 7th, 2010 at 12:29 AM ^

Hockey is a low scoring sport compared to the other major sports in the United States (and no, soccer doesn't count). As such, an individual scoring play or a high probability scoring opportunity has more importance than it does in other sports. If these plays are affected by referees doing something they shouldn't, than it has a huge effect on the outcome of the game, which sadly happens quite often due to incompetence. Furthermore, penalty calls are also very important in hockey, as they have the effect of increasing one team's chance of scoring and greatly decrease the other team's chance of scoring for a significant length of time. As such, incorrect penalty calls, especially false penalty calls, can also easily determine the outcome of a game. These also occur quite frequently and have been quite prevalent in the WIngs-Sharks series, disproportionately hurting the Wings in Games 1 and 2 and hurting the Sharks in Game 4.

It is true that losing teams do sometimes blame the officiating for their own shortcomings. However, bad calls in hockey affect the outcomes of games to a much bigger extent than in other sports, meaning that when bad calls occur (which does happen quite often), people have reason to complain.

That said, in basketball, a high scoring sport, refs have to consistently make calls incorrectly in order to affect the outcome of a game, which does not happen very often. Situations where complaining about refereeing in basketball is warranted are typically limited to games where a highly skilled player is given the benefit of the doubt on virtually every single fouling call (exp. Blake Griffin last year) or when Ed Hightower is working the game.

Clarence Beeks

May 7th, 2010 at 9:36 AM ^

The officiating was awful in this game both ways, and it has been awful both ways since game two.  Each team got screwed just as much as the other in game four.  This series, in particular, the referees have put the whistles away.  For both teams.  It was pretty predictable that they would do it, too, after Pittsburgh went 4 for 4 on the powerplay in game one.  The repeated phrase from the commentators in this series has been that the referees don't want to make this series a special teams battle.  The officiating in this series has reminded me an awful lot of how things used to be before the lockout.  I don't like it at all.  If it's a penalty, call it.  Regardless of which team it's against.

mmc22

May 7th, 2010 at 10:21 AM ^

I believe the problem in hockey is that some of the penalties are too steep. They should come up with something like 45 seconds, or 1 minute penalty for some of those minor penalties. They already have 2+2 or 5 minutes penalties for major stuff why not have a 1 minute penalty for stupid tripping, or cross-checking, or elbowing, or any of those little small thinks who are usually not called and are also the most annoying ones. Let's think about it during a 2 minute power play you can clear the zone 3-4 times and still get scored on. This is like being awarded 6-8 free throws in basketball for a foul. The problem with hockey referees is that if they will call everything you will never play 5 on 5 in which case they let go some of infractions and this encourages the more obstructionist teams to keep doing it.