[Cecil Terwilliger]

The thing about NHL officiating is that I wouldn't use the word "bad".

This isn't a bunch of amateurs or idiot replacement refs who don't know the rules or can't follow the fast pace. Bad to me denotes a lack of talent or understanding.

It is the intentional inconsistency, game management, putting away the whistles in close games, late in a game, the entire playoffs, even up calls, being afraid to call too many penalties against one team, changing the standards of a call if a team is already shorthanded. The result is poor officiating but it isn't incompetence, it is by design.

And all of that is because the league refuses to deal with the issue. I'm not sure if it is because of the refs tight brotherhood and union, that the league doesn't want to rock the boat but along with the lack of transparency on ref ratings and evaluations, it seems to me that the NHL is totally fine not just allowing inconsistent reffing to continue, but to actively encourage it.