Just recently opened, the following e-mail from a longtime reader, one that even my old friend Jon Press from Japers’ Rink and addressed was how John Buccigross ESPN .
blockquote
gentlemen,
am a longtime hockey fan, and had a season ticket for the Capitals since the 1990s (and a partial season plan that bracket). I have a suggestion, or at least a possibility for what to do in terms of violence, crime, what did you do in playoff hockey.
Why not go
to a three-referee system?
I know that one of the complaints is that it seems to increase not enough “good” referee now, so the need of 50% to be counterintuitive. But it is not possible that the game is only as fast and there’s so much going on that two referees (assisted by two linesmen) are not enough?
Here is how I imagine it. They hold a referee on each side of the red line (blue line, or if you prefer), and the third serves as a rover and goes where the game goes. The one who remains at half of the ice is responsible for the goals and goalie interference, plus whatever else they happen to see, but above all, goals and goalie interference. The rover is responsible for the reputation of other things that have happened to the game. The referee from the back of the ice is responsible for the reputation of what is behind the game!
It is instinctive to see the puck and what is wrong with him at any given time. But for someone who is not specifically see the puck at all times means that there are fewer opportunities to attract seen games that are not from the refs.
It is almost
in football, where every part of the officiating crew assigned to see something else has fallen, so that the (most) everything is seen. If you are NOT responsible for watching the puck, free, up to the other things that have happened to notice.
Perhaps this would prevent the puck headshots, more consistent goalie interference calls on offer (such as this, and goals, the only responsibility of the referee at any given time would be), and so on.
I know it’s not perfect, and you’re potentially diluting a shallow pool, but think about how much changed after she went to a two-referee system, and how the players found it could not get through stuff away from the game. Or how much the NBA changed when it passes from a two-referee system was thought to be a three-referee system.
Anyway, just a thought. And as some of the most thoughtful Hockey Writers are out there, I thought you might want to ruminate on it.
Keep up the good work.
Todd
Thanks Todd for including me in his e-mail. While I am concerned about some recent incidents, we have to share in the NHL playoffs have seen this season, I do not think it would have to add another one of the referees deterred more egregious actions. About the fact that the addition of another official would crowd the ice, I’m afraid it would not be at the core of the problem we have now got to see.
Like many other observers of the game, I think the league made a real mistake when it suspended around Nashville Predators defender Shea Weber, declined after smash Detroit Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg’s head into the plexiglass WWE-style during Game One of those Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series. The limitation of Weber’s seemed fine to a $ 2,500 fine a pretty clear message to players and coaches that the league would make it easier to send to discipline in the postseason. In light of what we are here, starting on Saturday of attacking with Ottawa’s Matt Carkner New York Rangers center Brian Boyle saw and Boyle to defend itself true decline, seems to have the thesis.
At the same time, I do not think anyone believes I am providing this judgment with a tone of high dudgeon. The fact is, I think the playoff is the most exciting in recent memory. The play, at least in my opinion, was incredibly intense, something that is worn outside of the growing audience. And I was not aware that the reporting of a hockey game was part of the intro on Monday night’s edition of SportsCenter. Have exactly the kind of attention that the league would have killed for back when ESPN was – not only does the program recap the entire game three of the Pens-Flyers series, they followed it immediately with a complete segment with Steve Levy and Barry Melrose its cable television partners. Like it or not, the refereeing in the NHL and the police are in ice-discipline is an art, not science. Use too heavy a hand, and the games will be forced to its knees dueling power plays, something we saw often when the league back from the lockout. In contrast, when you can make too much, you get exactly what we saw in the past week, with an intense game escalates into something like street thuggery. To be honest, we have been very fortunate that a player was not seriously injured.
I envy the task of NHL officials and league disciplinary czar Brendan Shanahan. Essentially, they must find out how to make a pot of water simmering without boiling over constantly to keep on the stove. Have you finally too hard, you will ruin the flow of the game and the TV audience is watching something else to find. Easy to much, and you’ll get more UFC on ice.
So while I do not think, by another arbitrator to resolve the problem, not for one second believe that I did not want the solution was so simple.
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