GDT: Avs vs Tampa | 7 PM MT | Are we there yet?

[Pokecheque]

Well said.
I think it especially hurts well skating teams like Avalanche. We earn the penalties but opponents get them to even things out. It's so ****** ridiculous. You play well to deserve a powerplay..

To be honest though I don't recall too many instances where I thought the Avs made an egregiously bad call on the Avs. Yes, the major on Manson was insanely bad, but that ain't just on the refs, the league office completely f***ed that up too. Most of the time though, the penalties look legit. Especially Byram's.

 

[Ceremony]

I think people whine about the refs too much. The obvious game management is a pain in the hole but that's about the worst of it.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

To be honest though I don't recall too many instances where I thought the Avs made an egregiously bad call on the Avs. Yes, the major on Manson was insanely bad, but that ain't just on the refs, the league office completely f***ed that up too. Most of the time though, the penalties look legit. Especially Byram's.

The problem is not the calling of phantom penalties. The problem is the sheer massive number of all of the same or worse penalties that go uncalled. What that means is that penalties have become discretionary, handed out by refs arbitrarily.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I struggle with how to assess the refs. They cannot, nor would you want them to, call every single penalty in the book. It ruins the flow of games and you end up with a period like we had a few games ago where there were only like 5 mins of 5v5, and the rest was a series of PPs, 4on4s etc. It was awful.

But you cannot excuse not calling things, or choosing to call things, based on 1) who has already received calls, 2) the current score. I don't give a f*** if the penalties are 10 to 1 in favor of a team, I'd much rather them call it as it is, rather than trying to even things up. There are times in games where you can just feel a penalty is going to be called to try and give the losing team a shot, or because the last 3 calls went for the other team. It's bullshit, thats not how games work. Usually the better team, the faster team, and the team with most possession will draw more penalties and the team who is trailing, chasing the game, and desperate to score will take more. Why should a team that's being beaten fair and square be given an opportunity to go on the PP because they are losing?

 

[Pokecheque]

The problem is not the calling of phantom penalties. The problem is the sheer massive number of all of the same or worse penalties that go uncalled. What that means is that penalties have become discretionary, handed out by refs arbitrarily.

That's a league-wide problem, and frankly the Avs get more than enough power plays to win games. And I still don't understand, to this day, why the Avs look so much better at 5-on-4 than they do 5-on-3. Part of the problem is that Rantanen in particular goes from Mario with the Tanooki suit to Mario with the Tanooki suit when you press down and the B button.

Anyway, back to the refs...

To an extent I completely understand why the refs call the game the way they do. If they called everything players and fans would be jumping all over them for slowing the game down too much. Players are a huge part of the problem--they bitch and moan about not getting calls and yet out the other side of their mouths prefer the refs who "let them play."

And I also see why they tend to try and call a "balanced" game, because if they called it any other way the conspiracy theorists would be having a field day with them.

That's not to say I don't think there's some gross incompetence on the part of some NHL refs, and that I don't think there's a ton of room for improvement. But for things to get better, some universal truths will have to be accepted by players and fans that I just don't think they're ready for.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

That's a league-wide problem, and frankly the Avs get more than enough power plays to win games. And I still don't understand, to this day, why the Avs look so much better at 5-on-4 than they do 5-on-3. Part of the problem is that Rantanen in particular goes from Mario with the Tanooki suit to Mario with the Tanooki suit when you press down and the B button.

Anyway, back to the refs...

To an extent I completely understand why the refs call the game the way they do. If they called everything players and fans would be jumping all over them for slowing the game down too much. Players are a huge part of the problem--they bitch and moan about not getting calls and yet out the other side of their mouths prefer the refs who "let them play."

And I also see why they tend to try and call a "balanced" game, because if they called it any other way the conspiracy theorists would be having a field day with them.

That's not to say I don't think there's some gross incompetence on the part of some NHL refs, and that I don't think there's a ton of room for improvement. But for things to get better, some universal truths will have to be accepted by players and fans that I just don't think they're ready for.

For things to get better, the NHL has to take officiating seriously. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[PAZ]

For things to get better, the NHL has to take officiating seriously. I'm not holding my breath.

What league actually has good reffing?

None. Because leagues don't have unbias reffing.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

What league actually has good reffing?

None. Because leagues don't have unbias reffing.

I'll be honest, I don't watch a lot of other sports. And to be more direct, it doesn't matter two f***s what another sport or league does. I watch the NHL, so I comment on the NHL. In the over 30 years I have been watching hockey, the officiating has gotten worse, and it has coincided with increased game management by the refs.

Are you satisfied with NHL officiating?

 

[PAZ]

I'll be honest, I don't watch a lot of other sports. And to be more direct, it doesn't matter two f***s what another sport or league does. I watch the NHL, so I comment on the NHL. In the over 30 years I have been watching hockey, the officiating has gotten worse, and it has coincided with increased game management by the refs.

Are you satisfied with NHL officiating?

I accept it for what it is.

The league wants parity, and gives the refs the discretion to manage that how they see fit. End of the day the NHL is a product, and they don't cater to the hardcore fans, they cater to the masses who are mostly casual fans. It makes it a lot easier to be a fan when you're team sucks but only loses by 1-2 goals a game instead of 5+ goals a game.