All Hockey Talk

Well, this year seems to be an atrocious year for the referees in the NHL playoffs. There are a lot of ticky tacky things being called, and then you see some plays that leave you staring blankly at the television wondering exactly how 2 sets of eyes possibly couldn't call something. The playoffs so far have been like watching someone suffer from schizophrenia, and I don't know if there is any rhyme or reason as to why. A good example is Chris Kunitz coming across and completely stretching out the elbow and pre-meditating it, and only getting two minutes. Mike Richards is in a more defensive position and not being the agressor, and gets a 5 minute major for his elbow. Now of course Kunitz did get a game suspension, but how could you not call a major on that? And then in turn, how do you give Richards a major? Richards deserved what he got, I will agree, but for a seemingly less vicious hit, I don't know how you call a major on that.

There needs to be some consistency in hockey, especially in the playoffs. Buffalo didn't score on that 5 minute major, but what if they had on those extra three minutes? Or look at it this way, what if the Flyers didn't have to kill 3 extra minutes of a penalty? The game may have completely changed. As aforementioned, I agree that it was acceptable to call a major, or probably more appropriate a double minor, but as also aforementioned, there is no consistency. The game is very fast paced, so calls can be extremely difficult to make that quickly. Things may look worse than they are, or vice versa. This part of it is completely understandable. But when you see that the referee is looking straight at where an infraction occurs, and watches someone get slashed repeatedly and hooked down to the ice, or watch Ian Smith's face get plastered into the dasher and make no call. Then you watch for a few more minutes and see a light grazing of a defenseman's stick on a forward's glove and call a penalty, when the hands didn't even get pushed, leaves you in disbelief. I am not trying to say the refs are favoring one team over another, because I don't believe that's the case at all, but there is no consistency, and consistency is key in any sport. The players need to know what they can and can't do, and in the playoffs, you should always be allowed to do a little more than in the regular season. This is a game of grit, skill, will, and of course teamwork. Allowing the players to play the game a little more and not call such ticky tacky penalties, and call penalties that should be called, would make the game less frustrating for the players and the fans. The calls may even themselves out over the course of a series, but a few bad calls in one game just might determine the outcome of it, and that is not good for anyone. On the other side of it, any team worthy of lifting Lord Stanley's Cup will have to be worthy, but every team has needed just a little luck putting their hands on it.