Anyway, it does not matter! Luongo got his shutout and Vancouver only has to win one more while Boston has to win two. Advantage, Canucks!
EDIT: A comment by my friend Les, who is a soccer referee, has led me to add a little to this post. I generally agree with Les and seldom get too angry about questionable calls. They happen and no, I would not like to take the place of an on ice official. As I see it, the officiating has tended to be a little harder on the Canucks than on their opponents.
The suspension of Aaron Rome is one example. Yes the hit was a little late and the other player was hurt. No hockey fan wants to see any player injured. However, the hit was only a second or two late and if Nathan Horton had have been watching where he was going and not looking away admiring his pass, he would have seen the hit coming and could have defended himself against it. It was not a blind side hit and Rome does not have the reputation of being a dirty player. That is the first rule kids are taught in hockey, keep your head up and know what is going on around you. Rome was given a penalty and a game misconduct and that should have been it. The four game suspension was designed to remove him from the series. I do not believe there was any intent to injure. This was not the only late, hard hit in the game but it was the only penalized one.
My wife does not think there should be any hitting allowed, period. Other players should only be allowed to try to knock the puck off the stick of the player in possession of it but they should not be allowed to touch the player. I am not sure what this new game would be called, but it would not be hockey.
Congratulations Croft on your victory.....altho your little rant about the officials is bothersome of course I am speaking as a long time referee...for me you could always question my calls right or wrong but I would take umbridge when they questioned my integrity..
ReplyDeletegood luck on Monday but I feel a game 7 is in the works!!! have a good trip cheers a sad Bruin!!!!
Go, Canuks!
ReplyDeleteThe US has a win/lose mentality in everything. The US refs are, as usual, are calling plays for the US' gain.
I know what you are saying Les and I generally agree with you. A bad call against you will usually be noticed by the officials and you will get a "make up call" in your favor before the end of the game. Anyone can make a mistake but where it goes over the line is where one bad call is followed by another and these calls threaten to influence the outcome of the game.
ReplyDeletethanks Croft and I agree with you that some calls were very dubious and the only point I was trying to make is that we see these incidents in slow slow motion a dozen different angles and the Zebras only get one chance and of course they make mistakes as I did on a regular basis what gets me going a bit is when people accuse us of our honesty....again congratulations and good luck in game 7 Bruins hopefully Rule!!!
ReplyDeleteI think it's hard to take the bias out of any game.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when there is so much at stake and the teams are so vast in area and region.
I was a timekeeper for many years for a men's amateur hockey league (and had final say on questionable calls), and even I found myself silently cheering for one team or another which of course, swayed my decisions on occasion. I think you can't take the "human" out of being an official.
They go in there silently cheering for one team or another and it's hard to draw that line on what you would turn a blind eye to or what you would call.
Andy Vanhelemond was my dad's favorite official to scream at on the TV because he often went in with the opinion before the game started on who should win.
We are only, after all, human.