TSN made the game unwatchable

[Slitty]

I mean they are being strict but it's like that for everybody. There were 45+ penalty mins in the Russia-Slovakia game yesterday.

It's not like the Can-Rus game in 2005 in Austria. Now that was some ****ed up officiating.

I think they will get more lax in the playoffs tho.

45+ mins each team (Slovakia getting more than that I think) with Canadian refs... I dont like the Euopeans getting plamed for too many penalties. The IIHF decided it would call everything like the NHL, and they will. The players will have to adjust or practise that penalty kill.

The TSN announcers are making the game painful indeed. If any of you guys reads this, please please enough whinning... you guys are supposed to be entertaining and not the main event but an enchancement to the game.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Yea, he has Toews now.

 

[Slitty]

Thats kinda silly. Why do you bring nationalistic crap into it? Must be because Russia has been crap on the world stage for ages now I guess, so you need to whine about something other than your wretched national program (how do you like that irrelevent, inflammatory quid pro quo rhetoric ?).
On a serious note, try watching the broacast & the game. The TSN crew complains about all the officiating, not just its effect on Canada.

You, sir, dont know what you're talking about. Please refer to Zine's post: the man knows his stuff.

 

[Resolute]

Disgustingly awful officiating is making this entire tournament unwatchable.

McGuire just subtracts from the experience even more.

 

[Den]

Thats kinda silly. Why do you bring nationalistic crap into it? Must be because Russia has been crap on the world stage for ages now I guess, so you need to whine about something other than your wretched national program (how do you like that irrelevent, inflammatory quid pro quo rhetoric ?).
On a serious note, try watching the broacast & the game. The TSN crew complains about all the officiating, not just its effect on Canada.

That's like Sammy. I guess some thing never change. Your Russia bashing is an acute desease by now. Get a life, concenrate on Canada's play or smth.

 

[Siberian]

I was just reading comments on TSN page and am quite surprised how many people are manipulated by Pierre McGuire because those people are like parrots repeating whatever Mcguire said during the game.

 

[Resolute]

No, we've had major issues with European referees for some time now. McGuire just says it louder than most.

 

[Aaron Vickers]

I think that the IIHF is overlooking several factors in using the 2006 World Junior Championships as their proverbial guinea pig for zero tolerance of obstruction.

One fact that was pointed out was that the NHL referees were given extensive instruction, as were teams and players about how the game would be called.

I think, though, the IIHF is overlooking the amount of time between the WJC's and Olympics. Are these referees going to carry over these attitudes and adjustments over the span of nearly two months in order to call Olympic games in the same manner?

Secondly, the learning curve for IIHF referees in this tournament isn't significant. They've got to get it right - and right away. NHL referees had a preseason to adjust, nevermind a grace period once the regular season started. NHL referees had the chance to work out the 'kinks' in what are perceived to be non-important, early regular season games. In this tournament, every game is important, every game is do-or-die.

That's why the referees are getting buried in scrutiny and criticism. They are learning in games that are directly affecting the outcome of the tournament.

 

[ZombieMatt]

I can't comment on what Gord and Pierre are doing on their broadcast because I'm at the event itself for Hockey's Future right now.

But with that said, they SHOULD be talking about it constantly. The officiating has been disgraceful. Today's game was beyond unbearable. I am willing to bet that very few people left the game feeling they got their money's worth.

Down in the Media Centre, EVERY single media person was ranting about what happened out there. If Gord and Pierre, and the other TSN personalities for that matter, are talking a lot about it, it's because it is the dominant story of this tournament. It would be nice to say that the kids are the feature, but right now, they quite simply aren't.

 

[VanIslander]

i've always said tsn.ca doesn't know how to do hockey well,... bias is its middle name

pro-Leafs or pro-Crosby or pro-pro-pro... a bunch of cheerleaders and whiners

 

[Mike Krushelnyski]

Ok... as a member of the "paying public" that shelled out the coin for the package to attend all of the WJC games, who has gone to all of the games played in Vancouver so far - including Switzerland vs. Norway - and hasn't really had the benefit of watching any of the games on TSN for obvious reasons, all I have to say is that mandate or no... the reffing has been absolutely atrocious.

In my honest belief, the only reason why the US beat the Fins last night was because of the officiating. I'm not saying that the Americans didn't deserve the win or didn't play well, but the calls were decidedly one-sided, and in one instance - and those of you that were watching the game can correct me if I'm wrong since I didn't have the benefit of instant replay - their goal shouldn't have counted because it was offside... a US player was trapped behind the hash marks in the Finnish end, the puck being broken out of the zone was turned over - on the *neutral zone side* of the blueline and passed back into the zone to the offside player. A couple of plays later... score.

Want another example? In the US/Norway game, the US had too many men on the ice - they had a man in the box - but the play went on for a full minute or so while both the crowd and the Norwegian bench were yelling and pointing up at the scoreboard to indicate the time left on the penalty. And while any goal the US would have scored probably wouldn't have counted, it killed valuable time on the clock on what was supposed to be a Norway man advantage.

As for tonights game, it was, and I hate to say it as a guy who loves the sport, it was boring as hell! There was absolutely no flow to the game whatsoever. And as Bob had mentioned in his post, it got to the point where the crowd wasn't just booing the calls made on the Canadians, but the calls on the Norwegians as well. Players were afraid to make simple plays and hit... because everytime a player rubbed a guy out along the boards while in a scrum or made a big hit, it was a holding call, or a charging call... hell a couple of players inadvertantly collided going up the ice and because Canada had posession, it was an interference call.

You can tell it was frustrating for the players as well, as was evident by the small scrum that broke out at the end of the game.

Dammit! Just let them play!

 

[Pepper]

So Bob and Gord are already posting here?

I sure hope TSN gets a keyboard without caps lock if Pierre ever decides to start posting...

 

[BCCHL inactive]

No, we've had major issues with European referees for some time now.

So why can't Canada adjust their game to what is being called? It's only been 20 years of knowing what to expect.

BTW, if it was a Canadian or an American in today's game, it would have been the same. You know why? Because the IIHF says so.

We all shook our heads at a lot of the calls today, and in the first few days of this tournament. Even me. The IIHF is hardening its already tight standard of officiating. International play never really had much obstruction, unless you play the Swiss or the Germans, and they're trying to cut down on what really isn't there. That's why we're seeing such poor calls this week. The IIHF simply didn't need to change anything. It wasn't broken, yet they decided to fix it. It's Rene Fasel's obsession with being everything the NHL is, and the IIHF isn't.

That said, instead of blaming the referees (as I've seen elsewhere, not just here), the finger should be pointed at the IIHF. The guys on the ice are just doing what they're told. Their goal is to get the best assignments in the medal rounds, and the way to get those assignments is to please your supervisors.

 

[BobMckenzie]

i've always said tsn.ca doesn't know how to do hockey well,... bias is its middle name

pro-Leafs or pro-Crosby or pro-pro-pro... a bunch of cheerleaders and whiners

 

[hockeyfan125]

ignore him.

TSN is the only channel I watch for comprehensive hockey coverage./suckup

As for the Sidney stuff, they only show it because the majority of people want to see it. That is just how TV works.

I also want to give some support for Pierre Mcguire. I was sitting near him at the Canada/Finland game, and he has to be the most passionate color man I have ever seen. He was flailing his arms around the entire game. He gets very excited at times, but man does he know his hockey well. He makes games that much more interesting to watch, especially when sticks are breaking.

If anyone could answer me, with the Spengler Cup being back on, why did Romanuk stop doing TSN NHL games? Did he simply leave the station, or what?

 

[Gord Miller]

i've always said tsn.ca doesn't know how to do hockey well,... bias is its middle name

pro-Leafs or pro-Crosby or pro-pro-pro... a bunch of cheerleaders and whiners

I always thought our middle name was "sports"...shows what I know.

Goodnight everyone...try to get along now.

 

[BobMckenzie]

The TSN announcers are making the game painful indeed. If any of you guys reads this, please please enough whinning... you guys are supposed to be entertaining and not the main event but an enchancement to the game.

Announcers, by and large, reflect the game they are doing. If it's an exciting game, the announcers are excited. If it's a poorly played game with a lot of mistakes, you're likely going to hear more critical analysis. If you thought the announcing was painful, let me assure you as someone who was in the building, it was no more painful than the game itself. Read the posts from the people who paid good money to go see the game. The officiating was such a story and distraction in this game that it was the main event.

You want someone to gild the lily, you're going to have to go elsewhere. In a record-setting penalty game that had the majority of fans howling, literally, with outrage from almost start to finish, we're going to give it the treatment it deserved. Whether you like it or not, whatever your opinion of TSN or the people who work for it, I can honestly say in my 27 years in the business, I've never seen anything quite like the level of fan disenchantment with the quality of play in the games at the Pacific Coliseum so far. And that includes the non-Canadian games, which by the way, have been incredibly attended with terrific support for the visiting teams (except the U.S. ) In fact, the fan support and fan reaction to the non-Canadian teams has been, by far, the best I've ever seen at the WJC and I've been to 15 of the last 20.

Every coach, every head of the respective national delegations here are out of their mind with the way things have unfolded. Historically, European coaches/managers etc. have been very understanding of the vagaries of officiating, but when you see enraged coaches of these teams trying to find the referee's room after the game, you know something is severely out of whack. But if you want to believe that all of this is a fabrication or exaggeration by some pro-Canadian hockey cult, be my guest, but the truth is the primary story of the 2006 WJC, to this point, is the officiating.

Case closed.

 

[ZombieMatt]

I hate to sound like an echo or fanboy for the folks from TSN, but I think that there are a few people who just don't recognize how big of a problem this really is.

The story of this tournament IS the officiating.

If Hockey's Future did game reports, I would be writing about the referees more than the players. Fortunately our niche is profile/feature-based, so it doesn't effect what I'm doing, but TSN is not the only people trumpeting this issue. ALL of the media is. None of the media are talking about "did you see that move so and so did," or "do you think Erik Johnson can overtake Jonathan Toews?"

It's "did you see that call" or "the penalty on that hit," etc.

It's sad for the people who spent thousands on tickets to the entire event, the fans watching at home and for the players who are supposed to be the stars of this show. It's turning people off. This is my first time covering an event the size of the World Juniors and I've been excited about this opportunity basically since Vancouver was announced the host. And today, for a Canada game at that, I was completely disinterested by midway through the second period.

And guess what the topic of every single post-game media scrum was? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't the score.

 

[Live in the Now]

Go

When this happens in Turin, we're going to hear nothing about the games, just the refs. The hockey in this tournament has been really hard to watch, unless you love special teams play.
________
Mazda Titan specifications

 

[tml_4ever]

I hate to sound like an echo or fanboy for the folks from TSN, but I think that there are a few people who just don't recognize how big of a problem this really is.

The story of this tournament IS the officiating.

If Hockey's Future did game reports, I would be writing about the referees more than the players. Fortunately our niche is profile/feature-based, so it doesn't effect what I'm doing, but TSN is not the only people trumpeting this issue. ALL of the media is. None of the media are talking about "did you see that move so and so did," or "do you think Erik Johnson can overtake Jonathan Toews?"

It's "did you see that call" or "the penalty on that hit," etc.

It's sad for the people who spent thousands on tickets to the entire event, the fans watching at home and for the players who are supposed to be the stars of this show. It's turning people off. This is my first time covering an event the size of the World Juniors and I've been excited about this opportunity basically since Vancouver was announced the host. And today, for a Canada game at that, I was completely disinterested by midway through the second period.

And guess what the topic of every single post-game media scrum was? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't the score.

ding ding ding! we have a winner!

and because a month of learning from DVDs won't get you very far, this is why everyone's so upset right now. You know how some games, you're just so pumped afterwards, and you just don't care what the score was because the game was so damn good? well, this is sorta like that but in the negative....the game was so badly officiated that people just don't give a damn about the score.

you know why everyone's talking about officiating right now? Because that's the big thing, that's why! These guys are paid to give their oppinions on the games, that's what they're there for!

And you know what? If you don't like it, well that's just too bad! It's not their fault officiating is horrible.

And maybe if anyone here doesn't like what they're hearing, press the freaking MUTE BUTTON, damn it! Hate to sound like a broken record right now, but seriously....you don't like it, fine! nothing you can do about it except to just ignore it ie: not listen, mute, pull out your surround sound system and chuck it out the window....whatever.

 

[Slay]

Firstly they needed to implement this strict officiating in all leagues so it would give a time to adjust for the referees and for the players. Big, important and short tournaments shouldn't be a field for experiments like that. I think the traditional international style of refereeng is fine without letting much of clutch and grab and I agree with Van that IIHF doesn't really need to change anything.

 

[Randall Graves*]

I wish our tv's came with an option to turn off commentary, I want to hear the sounds of the game.

 

[GKJ]

I can't comment on what Gord and Pierre are doing on their broadcast because I'm at the event itself for Hockey's Future right now.

But with that said, they SHOULD be talking about it constantly. The officiating has been disgraceful. Today's game was beyond unbearable. I am willing to bet that very few people left the game feeling they got their money's worth.

Down in the Media Centre, EVERY single media person was ranting about what happened out there. If Gord and Pierre, and the other TSN personalities for that matter, are talking a lot about it, it's because it is the dominant story of this tournament. It would be nice to say that the kids are the feature, but right now, they quite simply aren't.

I hate to sound like an echo or fanboy for the folks from TSN, but I think that there are a few people who just don't recognize how big of a problem this really is.

The story of this tournament IS the officiating.

If Hockey's Future did game reports, I would be writing about the referees more than the players. Fortunately our niche is profile/feature-based, so it doesn't effect what I'm doing, but TSN is not the only people trumpeting this issue. ALL of the media is. None of the media are talking about "did you see that move so and so did," or "do you think Erik Johnson can overtake Jonathan Toews?"

It's "did you see that call" or "the penalty on that hit," etc.

It's sad for the people who spent thousands on tickets to the entire event, the fans watching at home and for the players who are supposed to be the stars of this show. It's turning people off. This is my first time covering an event the size of the World Juniors and I've been excited about this opportunity basically since Vancouver was announced the host. And today, for a Canada game at that, I was completely disinterested by midway through the second period.

And guess what the topic of every single post-game media scrum was? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't the score.

It's not going to happen, but NHL refs should the be the ones at Turin. There is a reason why these refs are in the NHL, being the best league in the world, and they should use the 2 referee system as well. A big reason why the officiating is so bad is because one ref has to see the entire ice, as opposed to 2 referees who do not. This is why anything chinsy is being called. They'd rather make the call than potentially miss it.

I wish our tv's came with an option to turn off commentary, I want to hear the sounds of the game.

You wouldn't be hearing much...only whistles and the PA announcer announcing the penalties.

 

[Macman]

There is no justification for calling almost an average of one penalty a minute in a game that wasn't even chippy until the final six seconds. None. The fact we are talking about the officiating, and not the play on the ice, says it all.

As for those Russian posters who want to turn this into an anti-Canadian thread, I can hardly wait until you actually get to see a Russian game in this tournament.

 

[PecaFan]

The original poster is bang on. I can deal with bad reffing, or over the years in these kinds of tournaments, reffing that's simply a different kind of standard than what we're used to.

What I can't handle is endless whining about the refs, mocking, or outright insulting by the announcers.

I turned off the game and watched My Name is Earl because of them.