BoldNewLettuce
Esquire
From this it sounds like NHL refs have the same training as WWE refs.
So hockey is scripted as well eh.
From this it sounds like NHL refs have the same training as WWE refs.
So hockey is scripted as well eh.
Great post. Kerry Fraser opined on the hit today on twitter and his response spoke volumes:
The idea that the refs are responsible for ensuring the flow of the game needs to go. I have no idea where that comes from.
This is exactly what’s going on and it’s been going on for a long time. This is Gary Bettman’s NHL and he’s more concerned about what’s going on off the ice than what’s going on on the ice. Artificial parity is more important than the on ice product. It’s worked great from a business perspective but the fans suffer for it.IMO, everyone misses the forest for the trees as far as what's going on with the reffing.
The reason they chose not make some calls where McDavid and other star players are concerned is they have a weird mandate, spoken or unspoken, to police the parity in every game. They don't want to let one player draw like 4 calls a game because that would favor one team.
Every once in a while they'll get a new mandate from the league to focus on one specific thing (obstruction, slashing, goalie interference) and they'll go crazy on that for like 2 months before everything just reverts to the mean. But as long as they have the freedom to put their whistles away one day, call everything the next, do make-up calls and dictate the temp. of each game, this is going to stay a problem. It's not about some kind of axe their grinding.
And the league can't do that much about it as long as ex-refs are put in charge of officiating and the NHLOA successfully negotiates for referee freedom (the reason they review some of their own calls on ipads is because the OA didn't want refs to lose their say to the war room).
90% of those listed have ties to the local media or work for the local guys
9/11 I would classify has "home media" either due to actually working locally or doing something daily on local shows
Great post. Kerry Fraser opined on the hit today on twitter and his response spoke volumes:
The idea that the refs are responsible for ensuring the flow of the game needs to go. I have no idea where that comes from.
I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.Going out on a limb wearing a tinfoil hat (and I'm not checking into it either), but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a Bettman mandate. Allows for "game management" and enough vaguarity to give entirely subjective interpretations of the rules. A prime example is Talbot's pad being held by Kesler in the Anaheim series. How that wasn't goalie interference and yet a player incidentally bumping the goalie is (usually), just shows how inconsistent the interpretations of the rules are. For the record, I think bumping the goalie should be called as well, of course.
I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.
I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.
The key phrase is "keep game fair". The problem is it seems this means allowing lesser players a fair chance vs McDavid by holding, hooking, slashing etc.
I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.
They can't even be bothered to watch the games. Elitest pricks.
That hit was stupid, but not intentional from the play, so maybe that's why the ref didn't call it. I was watching it on the Ducks feed and the announcers actually thought that was a "good" hit, one of them was like "Lindholm lays out McDavid!" I'm like "Really... jabbing someone in the back with a stick so that they go head first into the boards is 'laying someone out' now?"
The “what would I say to Corey?” quote was from the previous game when Perry bumped Talbot’s glove. It still infuriates me when I think back to how the Oilers got shafted in that series.I guess it would be too confusing for the home team and of course "what do you say to Corey".
"you see where he's scrambling on his hand and knees on the ice and opening up the goalie with his bare hands.....that's not allowed"
It’s a league initiative. It’s been going on for a long time. It’s more noticeable now because almost all of the older, competent referees have been cycled out of the league and their replacements have been developed in this system.That tweet is wild. So disheartening to basically see it confirmed that game management isn't a fan delusion, it's a very real thing. Refs should have sweet f all to do with the entertainment/'flow' of a hockey game. I wonder how long this attitude has existed among NHL refs? It's embarrassing and I suddenly like the league a little less now.
I might be misremembering but I am pretty sure Friedman pointed it out almost immediately and then everyone else kind of reluctantly agreed that it was interference.I honestly don’t think anybody looked far enough into the replay to see Kessler pulling on Talbot’s pad. I think they stopped looking as soon as they saw that Nurse pushed Kessler into Talbot and they weren’t interested in anything after that even though the rule states if a player is pushed into the crease he needs to make every effort to get out. They didn’t want to disallow that goal in front of the home crowd and were looking for any excuse not to. Getting back to the “nobody watched the replay long enough to see what Kessler actually did” angle, not even the HNIC panel bothered either. Their first comment about it was that the correct call was made. It wasn’t until somebody tweeted Hrudey and told him what happened and to watch it again that they actually did and changed their minds. That whole series of events that night was disgusting from a fair play point of view.
Kypreos carrying the league's water on Tim and Sid is the least surprising thing I've seen all day.
What did that mook say?
That show is so annoyingKypreos carrying the league's water on Tim and Sid is the least surprising thing I've seen all day.