Interesting correspondence between fan and Paul Stewart

[Beeeej]

[quote ugarte][quote Beeeej][quote krose]Sounds to me like an extremely defensive response to an insightful question.[/quote]

To agree with you that it's an insightful question, especially given that it was from an active official, I would've wanted more concrete examples of non-calls.  A general impression of inconsistency doesn't mean much.[/quote]
That could have been the response Stewart gave. Instead he said "Well, if you're such a great official why don't you stop reffing pee-wee league games and come to a tryout, complainer!"[/quote]

I don't disagree about the defensiveness of the response - just about the insightfulness of the question.  Stewart's response makes him look like quite the prick indeed.

[oceanst41]

[quote KeithK]Completely tangent to the discussion, I found this bit hilarious:

I feel that if he would have set the tone in the first period, it would have been a great game of two nationally ranked teams

Bwahahaahahaha![/quote]

Well 44th (as in RPI's RPI) is after all a ranking. ;-)

[Cactus12]

Oh no, anonymous fan... the horror of a game not decided by powerplays

[DeltaOne81]

That said, the one game I've seen this year - i.e. this past Saturday - the reffing was very loose and let a ton of things go. Doesn't mean the original questioner's letter made his sound very good, but it doesn't mean he was wrong either.

Since I've been watching a fair deal of the NHL lately, the difference was very very noticeable. All sorts of hooking or grabbing or interference that was not called, on both teams. I'd say the first 5 minutes could have had 5 penalties called each way - instead there were none.

What happens when you don't call these sort of things? Well, they get worse because the players know they can get away with them. So at some point you have to start calling *something*, and it almost invariably ends up being less severe than number of things you ignored before. Leading to confusion and frustration on behalf of the players when they get penalized for something less than what happened to them minutes before. And the ref loses control of the game. Doesn't help when the goal judge misses a goal either

[Beeeej]

[quote Cactus12]Oh no, anonymous fan... the horror of a game not decided by powerplays[/quote]

Cute... but sorry, I don't buy that.  You don't want your games decided by power plays?  Stop committing penalties.

[Josh '99]

[quote Cactus12]Oh no, anonymous fan... the horror of a game not decided by powerplays[/quote]A game can be decided by who gets away with a hook or a hold or a slash just as easily as by who gets called for one.

[polar]

If I may, Murphy in particular has seemed especially inconsistent this year. Anyone at the Union game can attest to Lynah's reaction (one of the Union players poked Scrivens in the facemask with his stick in clear view of Murphy with no call, to name one). Even within the bounds of individual discretion, the way this particular referee calls games is almost negligent.

[Cactus12]

If it is actually a hook or a hold or a slash... but I agree- it's obviously a balance, and I think that ECAC officiating has been reasonable over the past few years regarding calls/non-calls. My comment was more directed towards the NHL. (I think this letter-writer may be basing his opinion at least in part on the pro situation)

[sah67]

[quote polar]If I may, Murphy in particular has seemed especially inconsistent this year. Anyone at the Union game can attest to Lynah's reaction (one of the Union players poked Scrivens in the facemask with his stick in clear view of Murphy with no call, to name one). Even within the bounds of individual discretion, the way this particular referee calls games is almost negligent.[/quote]

Which one...Dan or John?

[redhair34]

[quote sah67][quote polar]If I may, Murphy in particular has seemed especially inconsistent this year. Anyone at the Union game can attest to Lynah's reaction (one of the Union players poked Scrivens in the facemask with his stick in clear view of Murphy with no call, to name one). Even within the bounds of individual discretion, the way this particular referee calls games is almost negligent.[/quote]

Which one...Dan or John?[/quote]

It shouldn't be John...I think he's probably been the best ref in the league.

[sah67]

Or neither:

Andy O'Brien reffed Union @ Cornell
http://collegehockeystats.net/0708/boxes/mcoruni1.f15

Derek Wahl reffed Cornell @ Union:
http://collegehockeystats.net/0708/boxes/mcoruni1.j12

Leave poor Murphy(s) alone!

[mtmack25]

Actually it was both for the Union @ Cornell game.  John Murphy was working as the second referee(there were 2 that night) and Dan was one of the assistants.

[CowbellGuy]

Actually that was Cornell @ Colgate. John Murphy and Mike Baker both did the SLU game @ Cornell.