How the NHL is Destroying the Game of Hockey (part 2-the refs)

Yes it is a very fast sport and the officials have a very tough job. They get lots of abuse, most of the time it is uncalled for and I have enormous for the job they do. But in recent years their role has appeared to have changed in the NHL and has not changed for the good of the game, quite the opposite. Recently with poor calls and what looks like arrogance they have played a key role in many games which is wrong. In a properly officiated game it should appear that there was no refs even present but more and more in the NHL the refs are a big part of post game chats. 

How is this an NHL issue? Well let me tell you. In every other professional sports league there is constructive criticism allowed by the media, the teams without worry of fines and such but not in the NHL. If you are a player, coach or part of management expect huge fines for any disparaging remarks about the refs. If you are in the media expect sanctions by the NHL, be it getting barred from official NHL events and or pressure from the NHL to have you removed from covering the NHL. I do not have any actual cases of that but it has been long rumoured and players, coaches are always getting fined, that is common knowledge. The NHL in all it's arrogance may think this helps keep the NHL in a good light but it is far from it, it makes it looks worse. 

As for examples of how bad the officiating has got well that is easy. the list goes on and on. Just the other night when the Oilers lost to the Hawks. The bad officiating did not cause the Oilers to lose but it sure didn't help. To start the the game the Oilers got 6 penalties in a row and of those 6 perhaps two were legit calls, the other four were questionable at best. By the end of the 6th penalty the Oilers were down by 3 goals. Then in the third period when after missed calls against the Hawks and another upcoming to the Oilers their frustrations got the best of them. Well in the refs wisdom one ref handed out two 10 minute misconducts to 2 different players which is unheard of. When the ref was asked why by the Oiler captian S Horcoff he got told by the ref he didn't have time to explain. After that there was a couple of make up calls to the Hawks and no calls to the Oilers in a lame, failed attempt to even it up. Sad thing is games like that are not rarity, they are common place in the NHL and is the main reason bowling gets higher TV rating in the states than hockey does.

So after such a horrible display of officiating what the media say? Well pretty much nothing. Yes there was some very soft mentions on the double misconduct and oh the poor refs were young and worse of all well the Oilers are a team of rookies so they don't get any breaks. Total gutless bullshit dribble from a sissy media kissing NHL ass. It insults any hockey fan when they know what has happened and the media just repeats ordered NHL bullshit! Again this just hurts the image of the NHL. The officials need to be criticised o they can improve, as they improve the game improves and as the game improves the NHL grows. Without good, fair assessment of the officials performance all aspects of the game suffers. The NFL, MLB, NCAA etc constantly rate their officials. Too many bad calls they get suspended, banned from playoffs etc and that is a major reason why those sports are so popular as by doing that it makes the games that much better. But not in the NHL, the league and media coddle the officials like a sacred cow, no criticism or discipline of their mistakes allowed which is so very wrong on so many levels and in turn destroys the great game of hockey. 

If the NHL is serious about improving the game well start by improving the basics of the game and that is the officiating. No more of this crap of the sacred cow refs, no more "well the calls even out" no more "well he is a rookie, he doesn't get the same breaks as a veteran" no more "you have to play threw it" no more banning honest criticism of refs by media, teams, no more the refs deciding the game, let it be the players, NOT the refs.

NOW DROP THE PUCK ALREADY!

Coming soon - How the NHL is Destroying the Game of Hockey Part 3 - the rules?

Oilers January '11 Review

Well it's a New Year full of hope and promise for the young Oilers but sadly they started the New Year in much the same form as they ended it.
The first month of the year brought a huge snow fall for the city of edmonton and the Oilers have acting they got buried in it much the city has. It was 8 losses and 3 wins for the Oil in January but mind there is hope as most games were lost by 1 goal except for an embarrassing performance against the Canucks.
Injuries have played a role, Eberle and Hemsky have been out for most of the month but I say the loss of Eberle was much harder on the team than the loss of Hemsky. 
It is a different team with Hemsky in the line up and it is not a good different.  With Hemsky being a veteran and a leader on this team he brings a passiveness to their play, a pass first shoot maybe later attitude. This team needs more of the agressive , willingness to take the game over play by the likes displayed by T. Hall and the other kids of the future, not the pass first-try for the highlite goal instead of a good solid garbage goal that Hemsky brings. Yes he has talent but he is the poster boy of potential unrealized just as Dustin penner's inconsistent play has done for him. Both players need to be traded and the sooner the better. I truely believe most of the fans high opinion of Hemsky is a misplaced desire, dream that he is guy to take us to the promise land, well he isn't and it's time to move on and continue the rebuild, starting with a new, hard to play against, aggressive attitude. Hemsky and Penner do not bring that to the team, they bring passive play.


Here's the Grades for the Oilers January '11;

SPECIAL TEAMS "F" - Well what can you say. 0 - 50 on the PP WTF!? The Oilers PP has been about as effective as the city of Edmonton snow clearing effort, both a complete failures. The Oilers have left as many chances to win a games as the city has left 4 foot snow windrows. Any increase in productivity on special teams would translate into a lot more wins, watch out when it happens


ROOKIES "C+" - Still showing promise and responsible for most of the good play. I really like how Omark follows up his shot to the net and doesn't peel off. Peckham and Petry show promise on defense along with solid play by MPS. A lot to look forward to.

OFFENSE "C-" - Get ugly, crash the net, get aggressive and shoot the puck!!! I have to say they have been doing this more but again it seems to disappear when Hemsky is in the line up. Basics boys! ugly goals count the same as pretty ones.

DEFENSE "C-" - Getting better, getting tougher to play against and this can be seen by a change in us out shooting the opposition.

GOALTENDING "C"   The defence is doing the job by allowing fewer shot but unfortunately Khabbi has been struggling and facing 12 straight losses. many are putting the blame on him alone but that is unrealistic. The defence and lack of offence is just as much to blame. many of the games he lost were close and the only reason they where close was due to his play. But, in saying that Dubnyk is showing he is our future #1. The Oilers need to play him more and give him the experience he needs.

COACHES "C+"  Definite improvement despite the record, we are getting more shots and allowing less. Most of the games were 1 goal losses, the coaching staff needs to get this team to develop that killer instinct and put teams away. Finally as mentioned above the coaching staff needs to split the games evenly between goalies, play Dubnyk more!

OILERS AS WHOLE  "C"  More frustrating nights of watching them play and learn ahead but there are signs of what's to come. Potential, potential we just need it realized.

NOW DROP THE PUCK ALREADY!