Olympic Hockey Refereeing: Part II (mod warning post #190)

[Yakushev72]

So you have toned it back from "Canada only wins because of refereeing" to a theoretical discussion.

I suggest you retract your previous assertion, read thru the thread to see the responses to this, and write the IIHF with suggestions as to how to increase the level of non-NA refs.

As of now, the use of NHL refs has not been an issue, and replacing them for the sake of optics at the cost of less qualified refereeing apparently is not worth it.

It sounds like you are reading from an NHL corporate press release. You have no basis to say that NHL refs are "better qualified" than KHL refs, for example. The KHL refs work on bigger ice, so they have to be at least as good skaters as their NHL counterparts. Have you done an analysis with parameters of your study well-defined in terms of scope and size sample that actually support that conclusion. If not, please use your own initiative and stop reading from corporate press releases.

Also, please don't say that the use of Canadian and American referees for games in which Canada and the US are combatants is not an issue. The Swedish Federation complained about the use of a Canadian ref for the Gold Medal game, and the Russian Federation was very unhappy about the use of an American ref for their game against the USA. It is an issue, everybody is unaware of it, and the ones who don't benefit from it are mad about it!

 

[daver]

It sounds like you are reading from an NHL corporate press release. You have no basis to say that NHL refs are "better qualified" than KHL refs, for example. The KHL refs work on bigger ice, so they have to be at least as good skaters as their NHL counterparts. Have you done an analysis with parameters of your study well-defined in terms of scope and size sample that actually support that conclusion. If not, please use your own initiative and stop reading from corporate press releases.

Also, please don't say that the use of Canadian and American referees for games in which Canada and the US are combatants is not an issue. The Swedish Federation complained about the use of a Canadian ref for the Gold Medal game, and the Russian Federation was very unhappy about the use of an American ref for their game against the USA. It is an issue, everybody is unaware of it, and the ones who don't benefit from it are mad about it!

I think you have to prove that some teams have benefited from biased reffing much more so than me having to prove refs from the league where the world's best play are more qualified.

As I said, the IIHF feels it's not an issue. Take it up with them instead of sounding like a poor loser.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

I think you have to prove that some teams have benefited from biased reffing much more so than me having to prove refs from the league where the world's best play are more qualified.

Totally agreed. Have seen the argument attempted and failed many times, of course. Also re: referee selection -> Sochi officials named:

"All of these candidates are considered to be top officials in their respective club leagues," said IIHF Officiating Manager Konstantin Komissarov. "We made our decisions on three main criteria: physical conditioning, performance in their respective national championships, and their ability to work in a team."

In a nutshell, the IIHF has priorities which they think contribute to the quality of match officiating, and country of residence simply isn't among them... for good reason. Maybe our expectations for "professionalism" from referees is simply higher over here.

And here's a list of all the assignments that they have to balance out over the course of just one year: IIHF Ref Assignments - 2014http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/sport/officials/assignments.html.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Past 4 IIHF World Championships (power plays for & against):
Canada PPF per game (4.2) PPA per game (3.6) +0.6 per game

2014 Olympics:
Canada PPF per game (2.0) PPA per game (2.7) -0.7 per game