2020 IIHF World Junior Championship - Czech Republic

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

The Hayton call was the only one I thought was horrible. Still think it was.

The rest were at least debatable. I would have called more embellishment on both teams, but that's just me. I thought most calls were legit.

Looking back, I'll take the reffing from that game (terrible call against Hayton included) over any NHL reffing. It's easy to see that IIHF refs actually call the rulebook as-is, they don't pick and choose their penalties in some kind of weak attempt to control the flow of the game. You might get the odd phantom call when a game is as fast paced as Canada/Russia, but that's a lot easier to stomach than egregious penalties being ignored by the refs because a team is already short handed, or it's the last few minutes of the game

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Looking back, I'll take the reffing from that game (terrible call against Hayton included) over any NHL reffing. It's easy to see that IIHF refs actually call the rulebook as-is, they don't pick and choose their penalties in some kind of weak attempt to control the flow of the game. You might get the odd phantom call when a game is as fast paced as Canada/Russia, but that's a lot easier to stomach than egregious penalties being ignored by the refs because a team is already short handed, or it's the last few minutes of the game

The NHL obviously feels differently.

I'm not sure what I prefer.

I doubt the referees are trying to control the game per se, they would be under orders to call it a certain way. Otherwise, the owners would complain and those refs would be gone.

[GioforPM]

I think there's a lot of factors that make it different in the NHL, and none of them have to do with intentional managing of the game:

a. There are a lot more games, and therefore refs don't start calling the very minor infractions. If they did, they'd be calling penalties every shift.

b. Refs are as prone as players prone to getting caught in the moment, by which I mean they ignore penalties in an exciting end to end game, or in a tight situation, or they call penalties because of the momentum of a team.

c. Refs in the NHL see players a lot more than the ones in the tournament - they get familiar with them and, while they don't call embellishments, they know who's doing them and ignore them. They also call penalties against guys with a rep for certain infractions, and no doubt personalities and seniority are also a factor - Gio gets away with more than Bennett.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think there's a lot of factors that make it different in the NHL, and none of them have to do with intentional managing of the game:

a. There are a lot more games, and therefore refs don't start calling the very minor infractions. If they did, they'd be calling penalties every shift.

This is exactly what happened in 2006 right after the lockout and the NHL mandate to get more offense in the game. It sucked for the first couple of months with every hook and hold getting called slowing the game down, but after the players adjusted to how the game was being called things improved a lot and watching hockey was far more enjoyable

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

This is exactly what happened in 2006 right after the lockout and the NHL mandate to get more offense in the game. It sucked for the first couple of months with every hook and hold getting called slowing the game down, but after the players adjusted to how the game was being called things improved a lot and watching hockey was far more enjoyable

The players adjusted, but the refs also backed way off. Like they always do with new rules. Remember delay of game for not moving the puck along the boards?

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

The players adjusted, but the refs also backed way off. Like they always do with new rules. Remember delay of game for not moving the puck along the boards?

Or interference against the player who shoots the puck into the corner. They cracked down on that for a time, but they now allow players to impede the shooter from going for the puck, but not to the extent they used to permit.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

Or interference against the player who shoots the puck into the corner. They cracked down on that for a time, but they now allow players to impede the shooter from going for the puck, but not to the extent they used to permit.

Unless it's a Flame defenceman. Then they call it.

[dash_pinched]

lol

https://twitter.com/user/status/1214635094859603968