Quote:
Originally Posted by dissentowner
Yet other players on the Jets gave the referee something to call and they didn't. The NHL has an officiating problem and have for years and as long as Gary Bettman is in charge nothing is changing. His game management bs system along with not holding any accountability to his officiating staff has really hurt the integrity of the game.
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This isn't a Gary Bettman problem. The problem is that the officials' union is accountable to no one, and if anybody ever tries to make them accountable they simply down tools and walk. It's happened before.
Moreover, officiating in the NHL was every bit as bad before Bettman came along. Do you remember the infamous Habs' goal in the last game of the '89 finals? Claude Lemieux skated across Vernon's crease and took his legs right out from under him, and the puck went in. Vernon was literally jumping up and down on his skates in anger as he hollered at the referee. The goal stood and no penalty was called on an obvious and blatant infraction in the deciding game of the championship series.
The difference is that then, most regular-season games weren't televised, there were no Jumbotrons in most arenas, and there was no such thing as streaming video, so the fans didn't get to see replay after replay of the officials' bad work. Incompetence and bias could be swept under the rug one game at a time.