TSN made the game unwatchable

[SENATOR]

Bob. When TSN will learn, we have enough fans of Russian hockey in Canada. We are a paying public too. Or you want to go the CBC Don Cherry's crying game plan. Start showing some russian hockey!!! Stop ignoring the big part of Canadian society. Hell with you TSN

 

[Alpine]

Have you guys been to alot of CHL games this year?
I know the "Dub" hasn't incorperated the obstruction, stick work penalties. But the Q sure has I've been to games where I'm sure everyone with a stick and maybe some others too got a penalty. I think one guy got a penalty for holding his own stick.
If I go to too many tier 2 junior games and then a Q game then the refereeing drives me crazy as the MJAHL refs call the game differently.
I see no more of a problem with the refs at the WJC then I do with the refs in the Q. The poor refs just haven't had the time to reach a level of consistency.
Hell, I 've watched NHL games on the tube where one ref in the same game calls some things and the other ref calls other things. It doesn't matter what the ref's call as long as they are consistent.
Canada has to get over blaming refereeing for bad or unexpected results .
What hockey needs is someone to step forward and say: "We don't care if you play in the NHL or the Guam Elite League. These are the rules and this is what will be called, that's it, that's all, end of story. So NHL please get rid of that trapazoid goalie handling zone.

 

[Red]

Canada has to get over blaming refereeing for bad or unexpected results .

When are people in this thread going to realize that Canada won and that people in the arena were booing the horrible calls made against team Norway as well? This isn't some Canadian whining over losing or barely winning. This has absolutely nothing to do with Canada and doesn't need to be brought up every two posts. The officiating has been absolutely horrid for every single team so far and I don't care how consistant the calls are (which they actually have not been...all that's consistent with them is that they're consistently bad) being made when none of them make sense. Soon, skating two feet within your check is going to be a penalty and we can watch a game between bubble boys with sticks.

 

[Seachd]

I agree that the officiating has been horrible in the two USA games I've seen via Center Ice, but I will also say that I was even more annoyed by the TSN announcers going on and on and on and on about it.

We get it, please talk about something else like the fantastic players.

What else is there to talk about? Because of the officiating, the hockey sucks. It hurts to watch, beacuse it only comes around once a year.

If I'd known the games were going to be this awful, I probably would have done the less painful thing and beat my own face in with a shovel.

If you ask me, they haven't griped enough about the officiating. Doesn't matter, because the hockey isn't really worth being mentioned, which is pretty sad for such a great tournament.

 

[Macman]

Bob. When TSN will learn, we have enough fans of Russian hockey in Canada. We are a paying public too. Or you want to go the CBC Don Cherry's crying game plan. Start showing some russian hockey!!! Stop ignoring the big part of Canadian society. Hell with you TSN

I'd love to see the Russians too, but the fact is Russia and Canada seem to always play in opposite divisions at the world juniors, meaning in different cities, and you can't be two places at once.

 

[Seachd]

Bob. When TSN will learn, we have enough fans of Russian hockey in Canada. We are a paying public too. Or you want to go the CBC Don Cherry's crying game plan. Start showing some russian hockey!!! Stop ignoring the big part of Canadian society. Hell with you TSN

So you didn't understand the first hundred times when you were told why the Russian games weren't being shown?

 

[Resolute]

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

You're kidding, right? How could any team adapt? Nobody has any clue what to expect from these clowns.

One game you get a ref that generally lets you play. Next game you get a ref where any hit into the boards is considered charging. The next game you get a ref who lets everything go. Then you get a ref who has to be first star. Then you get last night, where the ref caused one of the worst games in hockey history.

Even the Norweigan coach blasted the incompetence of last nights officials, and I doubt Norway plays a Canadian style.

A big bodycheck is not a penalty, even under the IIHF's backwater rules. They often get called because, apparently, Europeans prefer figure skating. Canada does need to adapt, but so too do the referees. Call the damn rulebook properly.

 

[Sammy*]

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.

You, Zine & Slitty dont obviously know what"quid pro quo" & "rhetoric' is.
And yes, the Russian program has been in the dumper for awhile. But that was not the reason for my response . I thought that that it was obvious to even those who are not that high on the "food chain" that I was only spewing out nationalistic "rhetoric" in response to to another clown bringing Canada into it & crtisizing us in the process, when it had zero to do with the thread at hand. I obviously expected a little much fron some.

 

[mooseOAK*]

Bob. When TSN will learn, we have enough fans of Russian hockey in Canada. We are a paying public too. Or you want to go the CBC Don Cherry's crying game plan. Start showing some russian hockey!!! Stop ignoring the big part of Canadian society. Hell with you TSN

You will need to define a number for "enough fans" before TSN can go out and convince advertisers to buck up for time to sponsor these broadcasts. Capitalism, remember?

 

[Resolute]

Bob. When TSN will learn, we have enough fans of Russian hockey in Canada. We are a paying public too. Or you want to go the CBC Don Cherry's crying game plan. Start showing some russian hockey!!! Stop ignoring the big part of Canadian society. Hell with you TSN

The big part of Canadian society is Canadian.

The next biggest part of Canadian society is American.

After that, people of Asian descent.

Russians fall a little ways down the list.

TSN is going to show what is going to make them money. If you have a problem with the lack of Russian coverage, write the IIHF and ask them to look into webcasting of all games.

 

[tsar]

You, Zine & Slitty dont obviously know what"quid pro quo" & "rhetoric' is.
And yes, the Russian program has been in the dumper for awhile.

Say what? Silver and Bronze in Olympics. Multiple golds in WJ… How is that a dumper? Remind me who beat Canada 3 years in row prior to 2005?

 

[Bill McNeal]

Was watching the game yesterday, and just decided to go out after the second period. That's usually never the case with the WJC, I'm usually glued to the set. I figured this game has no flow, it's beyond boring and Canada is obviously going to win so I left.

My question is, why did they feel a need for a zero tolerance crackdown? Complaints about inconsistency aside, which is always the case in international tournaments because you're getting refs from all around who ref differently from one another, I've always found the WJC and international best-on-best tournaments in general the most exciting hockey of the year. The NHL needed a crackdown because the talent pool is relatively depleted in comparison to say, the Olympics. You have pluggers and goons hooking and pawing for their lives out there and it slows down the game. Usually, when the relative talent level is increased, the game sorts itself out and it's quite a treat, as past WJ tournaments have been.

Instead of trying to improve on the only complaint with regards to international officiating (ie consistency) they've decided to change the rules to make it even more glaring. I hope the Canada-US game is different, but so far none of the matches have been up to the caliber of previous years.

 

[Holly Gunning]

Does anyone think that the wrong teams are winning these games though, because of bad officiating? I don't think they are. It seems bad all over, which at least means an even, if very muddy, playing field.

 

[Mike Krushelnyski]

Does anyone think that the wrong teams are winning these games though, because of bad officiating? I don't think they are. It seems bad all over, which at least means an even, if very muddy, playing field.

I'll stick my hand up for this one.... yes... I think that the officials handed the game to the US the other night vs the Fins. Let's face it, the American squad this year is stacked - so much so that they are considered to be the the favourites to win this tourney.

But when the Fins were up 2-0 in the first, the nature and the timing of the calls against Finland were just mind-boggling. You give a talented squad like the US those kinds of opportunities, they'll kill you everytime... and in fact they did, considering that 5 out of their 6 goals were scored on the PP. Hell... 10 of the 17 goals that they've scored in the tourney so far has been on the PP.

And it *wasn't* just the penalties... it's the phantom icing or offside calls, the blown icing and offside calls - I still contend that the second US goal was offside and shouldn't have counted (though, again, those of you who had the benefit of instant replay at home can correct me if I'm wrong about this) - and some bizzare need by the linesmen to toss a player out of the faceoff dot ... US and Finnish likewise... every. single. time.

Again, I'm not saying that the US didn't deserve to win or played poorly... but, you could tell they came out cocky, they were being outplayed early in the game... badly... and in my honest opinion, if it wasn't for the officiating letting them back into the game, they quite possibly would have been served their dish of humble pie that night.

 

[God Bless Canada]

I was at last night's game. Worst-reffed game I've ever been to. (And I go to 25-30 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League games per year). I usually am not one to go after the refs, but that was terrible. Several phantom calls + multiple "We Want a Ref" chants = hopes that this nimrod is never seen or heard from again. You expect the heckling after Canada gets a penalty. But by the midway mark of the second period, fans were jeering Norway penalties. The referee could do no right in the eyes of the fans. It's those types of games, too, when the on-ice action tends to get out of hand, too, and probably would have, if Norway wasn't such a small team.

 

[Dogbert*]

Pierre McGuire WAS talking about the game. The referees WERE the game. It was absolutely ridiculous, and if heads don't roll in the IIHF for the way games are being called thus far, I'm gonna plotz.

As an aside, I would watch a Team Russia game on TSN, if they showed it. I wouldn't care, because it's Russia... but I'd watch it.

 

[Adriatic]

It has nothing to do to about whining for Canada..the refs just suck for all the teams, it's a shame for the games. But that's inconsequential to the quality of the TSN brodcasts because Pierre McGuire makes every game unwatchable regardless of the quality of the refs.

 

[canucksfan]

I don't know how you think Pierre is biased. He said throughout the game that the ref was horrible for BOTH teams. I was looking forward to this tournament. Like i always do every year but the refs have completely ruined it so far. The IIHF is an absolute joke. I'm impressed that Pierre kept his cool on the mic. I would have been losing it. I have seen better ball hockey games played. This game was ruined by the ref.

Bob, Gord and Pierre do an excellent job and TSN does an outstanding job covering this tournament. I am sick of some people critizing them. Bob and to a lesser extent Gord come on these boards and post and some people just critize them. TSN is not bias. Do they spend more time on Team Canada? Yes. They are broadcasting to Canadians. Why is that so hard to understand for some people. TSN is showing all the medal round games. What more can you ask from them.

I don't know why the IIHF wanted to crak down on the reffing for. They already called it close. I feel sorry for the players and the fans that are paying good money to see these games.

 

[Adriatic]

Yes Bob, Gord, Dutch, Burke and TSN all do an excellent Job...Pierre however is unwatchable!

 

[canucksfan]

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.

I blame both IIHF and the refs. The Czech that reffed the Finland Canada did an amazing job. The other two refs were horrible.

Cmon' how could anyone adapt to these calls. Bourdon pentaly in the third is a perfect example. He crunches a guy no call. A couple of seconds later he does the same thing and the first one was even worse and it's a pentaly. The players shouldn't have to adapt the refs should adapt.

 

[sandbox]

What did u expect? It's a hockey tourney in Canada. Canadians aren't that much keen on any one else's hockey programs these days. If Canada wins agian it will be one of the greatest games of all time, if Russia wins it will be a mediocre tourney ruined by the refs.

If you actually listened to their comments, they were equally discusted with poor pentaties against norway as well. In fact i distincly remeber him saying after a poor call on Norway, "See, it's calls like that that ruin the integrity of the game". Thats all they were complaining about. They already new Canada was going to win, it had nothing to do with Canada. I guarentee if that had happened in a USA game w/ Norway, with the same officiating, the comments woulda been the same.

 

[Randall Graves*]

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

Goodnight everyone...try to get along now.

You mean it's not called Toronto Sports Net?

 

[Aarex]

TSN's Video feed even for non HDTV is awesome.

I was flipping between the WJC and the habs game last night by FSN and it was a joke. (Centre Ice)

No wonder hockey isn't popular in the US with crappy feeds like that!

 

[Dream Big]

Put me down for Russia games

I'd also like to see Sweden and Czech games. Webcasting would work for me too.
Heck I'd even watch the U-17's if they were available.

 

[gobolt7]

Please stay on topic.