Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
People have been complaining about officiating since time began. Or at least since competitive sports began. Every single sport has those who say the officiating is he worst among all the other sports. So someone is dead wrong.
Its no worse now than it ever has been. They see, or don't see, things at game speed. Everyone at home is watching in a confined window with multiple angles and slow motion.
Mistakes are going to happen every single night because those making the decisions are humans and humans make mistakes...full stop.
The NHL has the best hockey officials in the world for the most part and an established, and lengthy, training program before they get to the show. Yes there will be missed calls, always has been and always will be. Yes some guys have really bad nights, always have and always will. They are just people like you or me and people are not perfect. Players fall under that same umbrella.
I know this is not a popular observation but its just the truth of the matter.
Anyway,
Here is a website of who's who.
https://www.nhlofficials.com/nhl-officials/current |
To me, this is the biggest problem. Refs are humans and humans make mistakes... But there is no room for mistakes from refs. Every mistake they make unfairly impacts the game. Every time they let emotion get involved in their decision making, they are violating the rules of the game.
Reffing will only ever be good, in my view, when it's done without any humans whatsoever. Which, I know, is impossible at this point in time.
Is my viewpoint extreme? Sure. But as long as there's a human element, there's room for bias or emotion to taint a call. Every time that happens, it damages the game, to me.
Until that becomes possible, at least put another ref up in the pressbox, connected by headset to the guys on the ice. This will allow another viewpoint to either catch missed calls or contribute to decisions made on the ice (when calls are discussed between officials).