The almost unanimous opinions about this issue in this thread show that pretty well every fan sees NHL reffing for what it is.
I'm glad the league took action (they had to) but they are also hypocritical here. The make up call, game management, etc is the worst kept secret in hockey. The league is complicit as NHL games have rarely (never?) been properly or consistently officiated. Different standards for playoffs vs regular season, late in games vs first period etc. The NHL is only doing anything because he was stupid enough to say this while being mic'ed-up. Which is a special kind of stupid, but they have to know that all their refs do stuff like this all the time.
The gold standard of sports officiating for me is rugby. The concept of game management would be completely foreign to rugby officials. Any rugby fans - can you imagine a "make-up" offsides call? Or a rugby official just deciding to not call a foul because it's late in the game? The NHL could expect the same level of consistency from their referees... they just chose not to.
|