Funny/bad calls made by refs (personal experiences)

[MeHateHe]

Oh and another funny one:

there was a penalty call against the opposing team at the end of the 2nd period. We go to get the faceoff to start the 3rd, and they have 5. No one noticed until about 40 seconds leaked off, at that point my coach started yelling for a penalty. the whistle blows, and we expect a penalty...what does he say? "It was my fault, were just gonna restart the period"

That's exactly the right call (although putting time back on the clock is optional). Same thing goes if a player is let out of the penalty box by the time keeper before his time is up. He doesn't get an extra penalty if it was the fault of one of the on-ice or off-ice officials.

The title of this thread talks about funny calls, but I'll tell ya that my fellow referees and I love to laugh at players who think they know the rules, but really don't.

 

[SJGoalie32]

-Funniest call (well, it was funny after the fact):

Playoff game in an adult men's rec league. Tied 1-1 after OT, so it goes into best-of-3 shootout. We were up 1-0 in the shootout, 3rd shooter for there team skates in on me and I make the save.

Game over, right? Well, apparently one of the guys on my team who was sitting on the bench howled like a wild canine (our team moniker was the Black Dogs) as the shooter was carrying the puck from center ice and across the blue line. No stick banging, no screaming at the top of his lungs, nothing obsecne, not an entire team thing......just one guy howling like a wolf in the moonlight.

After I made the save, the ref called unsportsmanlike conduct and awarded an extra penalty shot to the other team........in a shootout......of a rec league playoff game.......because one guy on the bench howled for about 3 seconds.......

Fortunately, I made the second save and we did win. As I skated towards the celebration huddle with my teammates, I turned to the ref and asked if he wanted to give the guy ANOTHER chance, and told him I'd just stop that one, too.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

I coached my daugter's team last year, a girls U12 team.

One of my players was carrying the puck and got tripped. The girl that tripped her fell and my player landed on top of her.

The ref opened our penalty box door (right next to the bench) so I walked over to tell him he was opening the wrong door. Then he says no, he called my player for tripping. I told him to check with the other ref because my player got tripped.

The two refs started talking, the other guy was just shrugging his shoulders (apparently he was watching something else). After a brief huddle they say that neither one really saw the play, but they reversed the call and sent the other team's player in the box.

Problem solved.

Except after the game, the first ref's father comes over to him and starts screaming at his kid for blowing the call. I actually went over to the father and told him to cool it. I felt bad for the kid after that.

 

[HunterSThompson]

I remember about 4 years ago I was playing and we had an awful ref. one of those that calls any body check that one guy falls to the ice a roughing penalty. Each team probably had 20 penalites with maybe 5 being deserved. He kept calling unnecessary roughness if someone hit someone even a little late. I guess he thought it was a football game

 

[Gunnar Stahl 30]

Thats an actual call, It's Unsportsmanlike Conduct

yea but thats not what he called it. he called it a technical and i thought it was signaled when you tocuh your hips

 

[BBruin66]

Worst call I can think that happened to me was in intramural ball hockey. Freshman year when most people were still bigger and better than me.

I was playing forward and was fore checking one side of the net and the defensemen threw the ball up the other side. He stayed behind the net as I went out in front to get back. Right as this happend my team mate intercepted his clear (near where the blue line would have been. I yelled at him to pass right as one of their players was closing in on him. He gunned the ball across to me about a foot off the ground with tons of spin on it. It was going to bounce right in front of me and with the spin on it i figured theres no way i was going to cradle it for a second and then wrist it like i usually 'shoot' one timers.

SO i decided to just take a whack at it and turn my foot sideways behind it so that if i missed the shot i might be able to control the ball with my instep. I totaly Whiffed on the shot and sure enough the ball hit my foot. The goalie came out and went down in the butterfly thinking i was going to connect on the shot. The ball hit right on the rubbery part of the heel of my shoe and flew off towards the far post heading wide. Then it caught the ground and with the amount of spin still on it twisted just inside the post for a goal.

I was a little ashamed but thought eh, a goal's a goal. Then The goalie pops up and goes "he kicked it in, no goal!" I was expalined "i didn't even move my foot how is that a kick?". Now this is Intramurals where more then half the refs know the game less than the players do so complaining can really go a long way. I explained look im standing still how can i kick the ball? And the other team who were as clearly as dumb as the ref said "yeah but it hit your foot so you you kicked it" Everyone even agreed that i didn't move my foot and was standing still. My team was pissed off .

Now the supervisor came over and I explained to him what happend, and after some contemplating, he too said that well, "it hit your foot so you can't score that way." I was amazed how many college kids needed the deifinition of a "kick," and how many didn't know the rules of hockey.

And this is at UMaine where so many are "fans" of the black bears.

 

[PEI Hockey]

yea but thats not what he called it. he called it a technical and i thought it was signaled when you tocuh your hips

He did call it Unsportsmanlike Conduct. There is no such call as a "technical" in hockey. Unsportsmanlike Conduct is a two minute minor where your team is shorthanded, whereas when you touch your hips, you get a 10 minute penalty where your team is not shorthanded.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

http://http://meltyourfaceoff.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/unsportsmanlike-conduct.jpg

10 Minute Misconduct

http://http://www.az-hockey.com/images/misconduct.gif"]

 

[Rickety Cricket]

Worst call I can think that happened to me was in intramural ball hockey. Freshman year when most people were still bigger and better than me.

I was playing forward and was fore checking one side of the net and the defensemen threw the ball up the other side. He stayed behind the net as I went out in front to get back. Right as this happend my team mate intercepted his clear (near where the blue line would have been. I yelled at him to pass right as one of their players was closing in on him. He gunned the ball across to me about a foot off the ground with tons of spin on it. It was going to bounce right in front of me and with the spin on it i figured theres no way i was going to cradle it for a second and then wrist it like i usually 'shoot' one timers.

SO i decided to just take a whack at it and turn my foot sideways behind it so that if i missed the shot i might be able to control the ball with my instep. I totaly Whiffed on the shot and sure enough the ball hit my foot. The goalie came out and went down in the butterfly thinking i was going to connect on the shot. The ball hit right on the rubbery part of the heel of my shoe and flew off towards the far post heading wide. Then it caught the ground and with the amount of spin still on it twisted just inside the post for a goal.

I was a little ashamed but thought eh, a goal's a goal. Then The goalie pops up and goes "he kicked it in, no goal!" I was expalined "i didn't even move my foot how is that a kick?". Now this is Intramurals where more then half the refs know the game less than the players do so complaining can really go a long way. I explained look im standing still how can i kick the ball? And the other team who were as clearly as dumb as the ref said "yeah but it hit your foot so you you kicked it" Everyone even agreed that i didn't move my foot and was standing still. My team was pissed off .

Now the supervisor came over and I explained to him what happend, and after some contemplating, he too said that well, "it hit your foot so you can't score that way." I was amazed how many college kids needed the deifinition of a "kick," and how many didn't know the rules of hockey.

And this is at UMaine where so many are "fans" of the black bears.

Its intra-murals they can have different rules. I played floor hockey and received a penalty for covering up the puck outside the crease.

 

[Whiplash27]

Last game was a beauty. Now this is a non-checking adult league, keep this in mind. Refs knew the whole other team and the director of the adult league was also on their team. We had 7 guys (5 for the majority of the first period), they had about 13 or so. In the first period, one of their players basically crosschecks our goalie and dives on him. The ref told him that he "had" to call a penalty, like there was any doubt as to why there was one. The ref sounded very sorry about it, can't call a penalty on your buddy.
Later, I got a shoulder to the chin (guy intentionally hit me like that, you could tell he was leaning into a check, my teammate agreed, was definitely not a collision) which I was bleeding, my head was hurting for about a minute, and my jaw was sore for the next day, no call, ref didn't even ask if I was ok. I could have had a concussion and they wouldn't have given a damn. Another one of my teammates said he got a head shot too. In OT, my teammate got an elbow to the head and instead one of my other teammates gets a holding penalty and they get nothing (was in the same vicinity too). If the refs don't want to call the chippy crap it's one thing, but head shots in a non-checking league? Wow. Ironically the guy who got that holding penalty came out of the box got a pass, went on a breakaway and scored the game winner. T'was beautiful.

 

[BBruin66]

Its intra-murals they can have different rules. I played floor hockey and received a penalty for covering up the puck outside the crease.

Well our leage has a 1 page sheet of rules which basically just descrbed the time periods and home many players should be on the floor. Everything else was to "NCAA" standards.

Twice we've had to convince the officials to call a penalty shot when a player threw his stick at the ball when our player was alone in front. Although that one i can see is a bit unusual.

 

[allin4466]

I coached Peewees last year in a small Manitoba town(I was bored), and we were a god awful team, kids were a bunch of misfits, of the 15 we had on the team, only about 5 wanted to be there on any given day. Well we were getting destroyed by a team, and it was getting ridiculous, their kids were playing dirty, our kids were idiots and retaliating, and it was getting way out of hand. Well one of their kids takes a run at our kid from behind, and ran into the butt end of our kids stick, OUR kid who still got flattened from behind, gets a butt ending penalty. So Im YELLING at this fat ref, when the other ref comes over and starts yelling at my buddy, who is coaching with me. While Im having a discussion with this fat ref, I look over, and my buddy just looks mystified, so I listen for a second, and the ref is yelling at him in french. All I hear is "look you clown I don't speak spanish" followed by a whistle and the ref tossing him.

 

[Rickety Cricket]

Well our leage has a 1 page sheet of rules which basically just descrbed the time periods and home many players should be on the floor. Everything else was to "NCAA" standards.

Twice we've had to convince the officials to call a penalty shot when a player threw his stick at the ball when our player was alone in front. Although that one i can see is a bit unusual.

Oh ok, we didn't have that. We just kinda showed up and they gave us a 10 minute run down of the rules before the first game

 

[deanosaur]

I coached Peewees last year in a small Manitoba town(I was bored), and we were a god awful team, kids were a bunch of misfits, of the 15 we had on the team, only about 5 wanted to be there on any given day. Well we were getting destroyed by a team, and it was getting ridiculous, their kids were playing dirty, our kids were idiots and retaliating, and it was getting way out of hand. Well one of their kids takes a run at our kid from behind, and ran into the butt end of our kids stick, OUR kid who still got flattened from behind, gets a butt ending penalty. So Im YELLING at this fat ref, when the other ref comes over and starts yelling at my buddy, who is coaching with me. While Im having a discussion with this fat ref, I look over, and my buddy just looks mystified, so I listen for a second, and the ref is yelling at him in french. All I hear is "look you clown I don't speak spanish" followed by a whistle and the ref tossing him.

Sounds like a typical small town game in Manitoba to me!

 

[Space Herpe]

I just read the entire thread and I'm suprised I haven't seen this:

One the ice-I was called for hooking. I tell the ref he was horrible and he made a bad call. "You hooked him, he went down." "No, I tripped him, if you knew what you were doing, you would've called tripping." 2 mins for hooking and 2 mins for unsportsmanlike.

----------

I was playing goal in a ball/deck hockey league. The ball is rolling in on me, and takes an odd bounce, and hits me in the chest. It hangs in mid air for a second, about a foot out from my chin and a crazy idea pops into my head, "I can punt this thing!" It drops and I kick it with my goalie pad, just about to the opposing blue line. A winger gets it and starts in. "HEY!" the other team is yelling. As my winger is holding up, about 5 feet inside the blue line to see what he's gonna do, the whistle blows. He had the ball for about 5 seconds now. My whole team is like, "What?!" "Goalie, you can't do that." "What?" I shoot back. "You can't punt the ball, that's two minutes." "Two mintues for what?" "Uh..you just can't do that." I never knew what the call was.

One the ice-C level, low level league, just for fun. I go into the corner with an opposing player, and just kinda harrass him. No real holding, no real hooking, but bumping him, pushing him, every time he'd get control I'd just yell, "AAAAHHHH!" I did what is now known as the Avery and put my hand in his face to block his line of sight, just kinda leaned against him for a second or two and held him against the boards. I come out with the puck and the whistle blows. "Black-29. Two mintues for...uh...bulldogging." I was laughing too hard to argue.

Roller hockey. Those skates that have clips/clasps instead of laces. If someone was screening me, I'd reach down with my goal stick and un-pop the the clasp. It took the refs some time to catch on. I was warned, "Next time you do that, 2 mins for unsportsmanlike."

 

[Analyzer*]

Some guy intercepts the puck and he's coming at me at the point. I lose my footing and fall and he skates right by me. I skate hard and catch, but not in time, he rips the puck off the crossbar, the ref then comes and calls it a goal. I was pretty damn pissed.

 

[jdmef8vtec*]

we were on the powerplay i set myself up around the ash marks on the left side of the net, our centre was circling behind the net on the right side along the boards, i creap in towards the net he fires a lazer right to me, so quick i extend my left leg trying to stop the puck with my skate, puck hits my stick in front of my skate trickles in off the cross bar. Gets called off stating it went off my skate, i freaked, how does the puck go off my skate and top shelf.

 

[jdmef8vtec*]

we were on the powerplay i set myself up around the ash marks on the left side of the net, our centre was circling behind the net on the right side along the boards, i creap in towards the net he fires a lazer right to me, so quick i extend my left leg trying to stop the puck with my skate, puck hits my stick in front of my skate trickles in off the cross bar. Gets called off stating it went off my skate, i freaked, how does the puck go off my skate and top shelf.

 

[krax]

I used to be a ref in a professional league.

At the end of the season, we would hold our national ref tournament, where every region of the country would be represented by hockey-playing refs.
The problem: find some refs that want to ref refs , refs ar the worst players to ref!

Solution: some professional hockey players we used to ref, agreed to ref us refs.

Real funny calls, the pros had no clue about where to drop the puck, when and what to call.

Good experience for both sides...

 

[bohlmeister]

I didn't read all of the pages but i can't imagine mine can possibly be topped. I play in a non-contact rec league in Calgary. The refs are absolute garbage, but who can blame them, it rec hockey and we all play like it is the Stanley Cup.

We were in the third period of a game winning 6-5. Both teams took at least 6 penalties each. The ref calls a borderline penalty on our team with a minute left. Our captain and assistant argued with the ref for about a minute. The ref then tells our guy to get out of the box. Doesn't call a penalty and we win by a goal. The other team was dumbfounded to say the least.

 

[bohlmeister]

I was carrying the puck to the net from the corner. Their d-man pushes me into the net. I stick my hand out and push the net off, obviously because I don't want to lose any teeth on the post. I get 2 minutes for roughing.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

It was during a last minute PK, we were up a goal and they were pressuring. One of their guys crosschecks me from behind...no call. He proceeds to sit on me, the ref looks over and calls me for interference. It didn't make sense then, doesn't make sense now.

Another time, in the same league, same ref as well, my stick snapped so I had to drop it, one of their guys breaks into the zone so I go to chase him. He ends up stepping on my broken stick and falls down. I got called for tripping...the stick wasn't even in my hands...

 

[daveskirtun]

 

[noobman]

Two guys got in a scrum after the whistle... I had fallen earlier in the play (I was checked from behind, hence the whistle) and they happened to fall on my arm while fighting. I couldn't get my arm from out underneath them so I just stayed put. As soon as I got up and started skating towards the bench, the ref touched my shoulder and yelled "Twenty-six, out!".

I got ejected from the game because two guys fell ontop of my arm while they were fighting. He wouldn't listen to a word I said, and just skated me right off the ice. I honestly didn't even throw a single punch, slash, hook, or anything. After I was checked from behind I just hit the boards and rolled on my back.

 

[Mudz]

Someone entered the zone skating backward amazed and no offside was called.

Still the funniest non-call have seen.


as for bad calls, too many to list. Sometimes it feels like the refs are players who were not good enough to play, like if they don't understand some basic physics of the game.

 

[Ti-girl]

I didn't read all of the pages but i can't imagine mine can possibly be topped. I play in a non-contact rec league in Calgary. The refs are absolute garbage, but who can blame them, it rec hockey and we all play like it is the Stanley Cup.

We were in the third period of a game winning 6-5. Both teams took at least 6 penalties each. The ref calls a borderline penalty on our team with a minute left. Our captain and assistant argued with the ref for about a minute. The ref then tells our guy to get out of the box. Doesn't call a penalty and we win by a goal. The other team was dumbfounded to say the least.

NCHL?