Schlep Rock said:
Swearing on the ice is fine and nobody was getting in trouble for that. But injuring players? When told to calm down by the police in the stands the player laughed.
What was the police doing there anyway? Are games in Rhode Island always that out of control?
Schlep Rock said:
Let me guess, you think that Bertuzzi and McSorley shouldn't be charged because "that's the game"?
I resent the mockery, but yes, I do think that McSorley and Bertuzzi should have not been charged. I think the only NHL player who ever supported either of those charges is Steve Moore.
Schlep Rock said:
To the kid, 2 minutes in the box was nothing, he should've been tossed and come to find out the officials haven't just been suspended, they've been banned and according to this league official they have said they won't appeal the decision.
I don't think I would appeal either. If an association treats its officials like that, I'd be more than happy to never work another game for them. Where is the local officials association to back their guys up?
I find it sad that the officials were held responsible when they gave him penalties. Has the coach of this player been reprimanded in any way for giving him all that ice time, knowing what he was doing? As far as I see it, the coach is just as responsible as the player.
Schlep Rock said:
I'm sorry but if you let a kid stay in the game for throwing elbows, high sticks, etc. over and over and over again especially with the game clearly in the bag, I'd have to question your worth as a ref.
It depends on how I judge the severity to be. At most, if I don't think he's trying to injure the opponents, I might have given a 10-minute Misconduct basically for being a dumbass.
Schlep Rock said:
I've seen pro refs toss players with 5-10 minutes left in a game that was wrapped up just to keep the peace.
Key words: "Pro refs". These officials in a Rhode Island high school league are not professionals. To expect that kind of standard of officiating at that level is asinine.
Schlep Rock said:
Now tonight, two players were rushed to the hospital with serious knee injuries, neither the result of a play but it took a cop to run on the ice to stop a play because the ref would not blow the whistle even after he saw the kid (approximately 30-45 seconds the kid was on the ice). Without exaggeration the police officer swung one of the doors open and ran over to the kid finally forcing the officials to blow the whistle.
Again, what are the cops doing there? I admit my lack of familiarity with the USA Hockey rulebook, but up here, unless I think the player is in serious physical danger, I have to wait until his team gets possession of the puck until I whistle play dead.
Schlep Rock said:
Needless to say, I was told by the league official there will be a complete overhaul of the officiting in RI as it has gotten atrocious.
I think that instead of expecting professional standards for a high school league, and suspending officials when they don't assess a Game Misconduct that a league official thinks should have been assessed, how about having supervisors help train these officials? Instead of suspending them, tell them what you think they did wrong, and they will learn from that.
Schlep Rock said:
And out of curiosity... what makes the ref's opinion so much more valuable then that of an executive within the league? While they're the ones in the "line of fire" they need to take responsibility for their calls.
I don't know about down there, but up here, not many league executives have any officiating experience. That's why so many of their decisions on supplementary discipline is based on the word of the referees. They actually give us that respect up here. They wouldn't watch a video, disagree with what we did and ban us from the association. They would ask us our version of what happened and why we called what we did. Unless a referee is intentionally creating havoc (like telling a team to f*** off before a game ...we had a guy like that who got canned almost immediately), they would never ban us. They would give us more experience at a lower level until we're ready to make the next step.
In shorter terms, leagues and associations up here respect their officials and their associations. From what I hear about this RI high school league, they don't.
Schlep Rock said:
A missed call, a bad call... it happens, refs are human but so "miss" this kid trying to injure players? You've got to be deaf, dumb, AND blind to miss it and if you allow it to happen you should not be an official.
I don't know how many games you've officiated, but it's not the easiest thing in the world to determine something like that, unless he's kicking an opponent or slashing them a-la Marty McSorley.
Do you think you could do a better job than these officials? If so, why not convince this league official you talk to to put you on the ice?