ECACHL Officiating

[Rich S]

[quote calgARI '07][quote Dafatone]My problem with Feola is that he tends to lean towards the losing team.  Though he never seems anti-Cornell, he does seem to help out the team that's down a little more.[/quote]

Refs at all levels of all sports are guilty of that.[/quote]

I do not agree with this sweeping generalization.  It may be true of lower quality officials but I've coached ice hockey at both the high school and youth levels for four years in NJ and have not seen that to be the case on more than a couple of occasions.

The same is true for the several dozen HS football games I've covered in that time.

[Trotsky]

[quote Rich S][quote calgARI '07][quote Dafatone]My problem with Feola is that he tends to lean towards the losing team.  Though he never seems anti-Cornell, he does seem to help out the team that's down a little more.[/quote]

Refs at all levels of all sports are guilty of that.[/quote]

I do not agree with this sweeping generalization.  It may be true of lower quality officials but I've coached ice hockey at both the high school and youth levels for four years in NJ and have not seen that to be the case on more than a couple of occasions.[/quote]

I would have agreed with him, up until the last few years, but I think one of the notable changes in ECAC officiating is that the refs are now quick to makes calls (1) late in games and (2) against the trailing team.  It seemed to me a decade ago that you needed to commit first degree murder to get whistled for a non-coincidental if your team was trailing by one goal in the final 10 minutes of regulation.

[cbuckser]

One of the NCAA's points of emphasis is that the game situtaion should no longer have an impact on penalty calls.

Incidentally, today's Ithaca Journal has an article on the tight officiating.
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061201/SPORTS/61201010

[Dpperk29]

Trigger,

my experience both as a ref and talking other high level officials (ECAC, AHL, etc..) is that in the past, as the game got closer, they swallowed the whistle. When the score opened up, the losers couldn;t dirty, and neither could the winners.

now in the present, that practice is in theory, Over... only time will tell.

[Trotsky]

[quote Dpperk29]When the score opened up, the losers couldn;t dirty, and neither could the winners.[/quote]
The WHL carried this to the point of formally quantifying it.  I don't recall the exact details, but it was something like: if you got an instigation penalty in the final two minutes of a game with a score of 3+ goals difference, you got an automatic suspension and a league review.

[calgARI '07]

nm