Paul Stewart: Are We Losing the Humanity of the Game?

My only problem with refs is when they call something they didn't see, based on what they saw after the fact. Other than that I feel like the NHL refs are the best in the world at what they do.

I do also miss the personalities. I knew when Kerry Fraser was doing a game that he would let them play while keeping them under control. Each ref had a style and you knew that going in.

I don't agree with the perspective here. The humanity of the game isn't being lost. The shift is preventing the officials, who in an IDEAL situation make the perfect call every time and have no influence on the final outcome. Steps are being made to turn that into the reality (it will probably never be perfect) The exciting part of the game is about the players and the competition. Teams making incredible plays on both sides of the ice, superstar PLAYERS making the history without invalid "help" or hurdles due to bad officiating. No offense to any officials, but if your "personality" is coming through I'd argue you could be doing a better job, and if the right call is made every time how can you argue against that? The human element should solely be focused on the two teams competing, not a missed call or a good goal being disallowed. It's always frustrating if a player on your team is phoning it in, but it is maddening to see a game decided by the officials, and it has happened plenty of times this year alone.

Oh... So I am not allowed to first post gifs here? Rude

Paul Stewart: Are We Losing the Humanity of the Game?
- Paul Stewart

Trust is earned, not granted.

Too many NHL refs do NOT call obvious malicious penalties, like stick work and high hits.

I was there at rink side when all officials missed Torres' head shot on Hossa. This is just one egregious miss that occurs regularly in NHL games.

The more ref discretion, the more WWE-like the officiating will be.

The nice thing about Macdonalds is that you know what to expect and you know it will be consistent wherever you go. There is a lot to be said for that when it comes to officiating. In today's NHL, one night you get Five Guys, or another In and Out, but far too often you get White Castle.

To continue with your restaurant theme, the best officiating is officiating that no one notices. The players are the filet Mignon at a nice steakhouse. No one goes to a steakhouse to drink the ice water, but you do notice if the water is brown.

The nice thing about Macdonalds is that you know what to expect and you know it will be consistent wherever you go. There is a lot to be said for that when it comes to officiating. In today's NHL, one night you get Five Guys, or another In and Out, but far too often you get White Castle.

To continue with your restaurant theme, the best officiating is officiating that no one notices. The players are the filet Mignon at a nice steakhouse. No one goes to a steakhouse to drink the ice water, but you do notice if the water is brown.
- Emperor Filonius

I completely agree with this post. The refs should never be bigger than the game or more noticed then the players of the game. Maybe part of the problem to is that maybe most of the refs in the NHL are guys like Paul that were Goons when they played so they officiate in favor of the goon or less talented type players. I mean there isn't another league that the refs call a game to hold down it's star players. I'm not saying I want a penalty filled game or the refs to call penalties cause someone looked at a star player the wrong way, but make the calls by the book and how the NHL said they want the games to be called. You always hear if you make the calls consistently by the book the players will adjust and the calls become less frequently. The problem is as the season goes on the refs start calling whatever they want if they call anything and that's when you start getting inconsistent reffing. The players then have no idea what's going to be called.

The nice thing about Macdonalds is that you know what to expect and you know it will be consistent wherever you go. There is a lot to be said for that when it comes to officiating. In today's NHL, one night you get Five Guys, or another In and Out, but far too often you get White Castle.

To continue with your restaurant theme, the best officiating is officiating that no one notices. The players are the filet Mignon at a nice steakhouse. No one goes to a steakhouse to drink the ice water, but you do notice if the water is brown.
- Emperor Filonius

to what I think is Paul's point though.... we have lost the human interpretation side - the situational sensitivity... officials not having a feel for the game.... but I think that slide started a long time ago. (seemed to coincide with the new interpretation of the rules for hooking, holding etc.)

I believe officials going back 10-15 years had more individual accountability and along with that authority... now its just an exercise in protecting a special few... and tilting the outcomes in the favor of those special few.

It really does disrupt the flow of the game. Very bothersome

Always easy to criticize officials but if you haven't officiated in the NHL, you don't really have the credibility.

They don't come into our workplace and tell us what we're doing wrong, do they?

There is always going to be calls that are missed, I get frustrated just as much as the next guy, but, line of sight is very different on ice level.

My concern isn't so much the officiating, it's the NHL disciplinary panel...or lack of.

Players like Torres and especially Matt Cooke should have never been given repeated chances because they went on to re-offend. Those types of players need to be actually disciplined very quickly, and they weren't. Their so called punishment proved that the NHL itself failed, horribly.

When problem players are on the ice, the officials focus changes to watch them more as opposed to the big picture and the probability of missed calls increases.

Cut those cancers out and the officials can focus.

What player was the biggest wienerhead when you were an official?

Always easy to criticize officials but if you haven't officiated in the NHL, you don't really have the credibility.

They don't come into our workplace and tell us what we're doing wrong, do they?

There is always going to be calls that are missed, I get frustrated just as much as the next guy, but, line of sight is very different on ice level.

My concern isn't so much the officiating, it's the NHL disciplinary panel...or lack of.

Players like Torres and especially Matt Cooke should have never been given repeated chances because they went on to re-offend. Those types of players need to be actually disciplined very quickly, and they weren't. Their so called punishment proved that the NHL itself failed, horribly.

When problem players are on the ice, the officials focus changes to watch them more as opposed to the big picture and the probability of missed calls increases.

Cut those cancers out and the officials can focus.
- PeterThePuck

Look NHL refs have a tough job no doubt, but to say there is always some missed calls is putting it mildly. There are multiple bad calls or non calls in every game. The next game watch carefully and you'll see refs are not calling games by the book or how the NHL wants them to call it. They are calling games how they want in terms of what they consider is a penalty not what the rule book states is a penalty.

I'll give you that the NHL does not discipline players properly. At the same time the refs lose control of games by letting things go through out a game and not calling penalties or throwing players out to calm things down. Take for instance when the Pens play the Flyers you know what kind of game you're going to get from the Flyers but yet the refs still let everything get out of control. And to make matters worse often times the team that retaliates in this case the Pens tend to get most of the calls against them. If the refs didn't let the Flyers walk that line and most often cross it we would have a hockey game to watch not a boxing/wrestling match. Look at the last couple games Pens played Chicago good up and down action without the unnecessary rhetoric of one team going out of their way turn it into a fighting match. Now Paul being a self proclaimed goon when he played probably likes the style the Flyers play and if he still reffed today and did a Pens/Flyers game I don't think you'd get a differently called game. Maybe it's just me I prefer the finesse up and down action type of game which by the way doesn't mean you can't lay good clean hard hits over the neanderthal clutch and grab and go out of your way and cross the line to almost injure someone hockey.

You mention Torres and Cooke should not have been given multiple chances because of things they've done and the NHL didn't do their job. But what about the refs that allow hits like Crosby took in last years playoffs. Dubinsky and Staal game after game crosschecking him in the back of the neck and head but nothing ever called. That's fact but the NHL is trying to get rid of head shots but either they aren't forcing the refs to call those hits or the refs are just ignoring what the NHL wants them to call.

...how often does a penalty get called 20-30 seconds after the infraction?

You mention Torres and Cooke should not have been given multiple chances because of things they've done and the NHL didn't do their job. But what about the refs that allow hits like Crosby took in last years playoffs. Dubinsky and Staal game after game crosschecking him in the back of the neck and head but nothing ever called. That's fact but the NHL is trying to get rid of head shots but either they aren't forcing the refs to call those hits or the refs are just ignoring what the NHL wants them to call.
- Guins6687

I hear ya. The amount of cross checking is crazy. The other thing that infuriates me is how even the analysts say, "that would have been a penalty in the regular season". So, the regular season penalties don't apply in the playoffs? Double standard is putting it lightly.

But again, is this on the officials or are they encouraged to let things slide by the league? The officials will never likely tell us what they are instructed to do, or not do by the league. One of those unspoken things that the officials get blamed for but the root of the problem I see in many instances, is the league.

It's either a penalty, or not. Regular season or playoffs, they need to get that sh*t straight.

All these oversights that the officials likely see and not call can't be just at their discretion, there has to be some accountability on the league for some of these inconsistencies.

All too easy to lay the blame on the officials and let the league sit on their ass.

When is the last time anybody called them out instead of the officials?

I hear ya. The amount of cross checking is crazy. The other thing that infuriates me is how even the analysts say, "that would have been a penalty in the regular season". So, the regular season penalties don't apply in the playoffs? Double standard is putting it lightly.

But again, is this on the officials or are they encouraged to let things slide by the league? The officials will never likely tell us what they are instructed to do, or not do by the league. One of those unspoken things that the officials get blamed for but the root of the problem I see in many instances, is the league.

It's either a penalty, or not. Regular season or playoffs, they need to get that sh*t straight.

All these oversights that the officials likely see and not call can't be just at their discretion, there has to be some accountability on the league for some of these inconsistencies.

All too easy to lay the blame on the officials and let the league sit on their ass.

When is the last time anybody called them out instead of the officials?
- PeterThePuck

I agree with you in the inconsistency of calls from regular to post season play. I can see if they want to let teams play a bit and not call the ticky tac penalties but guys get mugged especially the star players in the playoffs and it just gets worse deeper into the playoffs. Even now as the season is winding down refs are calling very little with the exception of a game here and there. What I hate to hear is people who like how they ref games in the playoffs say they don't want the refs to decide the outcome of games but by letting guys get mugged all game long and not making calls aren't they determining the outcome of a game that way?

I'm not sure if it's the league or the refs taking it into their own hands to change the way they call games. The reason why I say it's the refs is I've heard multiple times on TV by some one high up in the league and commentators that the refs are told to start calling penalties like they're suppose to be called. The refs start to call games that way for a few weeks or so and then they go back to calling games the way they want to or so it seems. They start letting things slide more and more. Maybe it's someone high up in the league telling them to change the way they call games (if so they need to held accountable) or maybe it's the head of officiating. If they want to grow the game they need to make it more exciting and let the stars play how they're capable of (that doesn't mean call penalties on opposing players for no reason) and not allow lesser talented players to hold them down and not get called for it. As I said before the last couple Pens/Chicago games were great up and down action. They played a game without the extracurricular shenanigans going on.