Paul Stewart: The Player-to-Ref Transition

I've always had a hard time wrapping my head around officiating with the flow or temperature of a game. I get the gray areas but I still don't understand why a trip wouldn't be a in some games but it called in others. Instead of the ref acting on his own gut of the game, why aren't players expected to better follow the rules or face the consequences?

Also, I love playoff hockey and the intensity but in my opinion way too many stick infractions get let go simply because it's the playoffs. Just weird to me how regular season and playoffs can be officiated so differently. Shouldn't the league strive for real balance and consistency? It's almost as if there are two separate rule books.

I've always had a hard time wrapping my head around officiating with the flow or temperature of a game. I get the gray areas but I still don't understand why a trip wouldn't be a in some games but it called in others. Instead of the ref acting on his own gut of the game, why aren't players expected to better follow the rules or face the consequences?

Also, I love playoff hockey and the intensity but in my opinion way too many stick infractions get let go simply because it's the playoffs. Just weird to me how regular season and playoffs can be officiated so differently. Shouldn't the league strive for real balance and consistency? It's almost as if there are two separate rule books.
- Routs

I've always had a hard time wrapping my head around officiating with the flow or temperature of a game. I get the gray areas but I still don't understand why a trip wouldn't be a in some games but it called in others. Instead of the ref acting on his own gut of the game, why aren't players expected to better follow the rules or face the consequences?

Also, I love playoff hockey and the intensity but in my opinion way too many stick infractions get let go simply because it's the playoffs. Just weird to me how regular season and playoffs can be officiated so differently. Shouldn't the league strive for real balance and consistency? It's almost as if there are two separate rule books.
- Routs

Each game during the season has its own feel, a personality if you will. A good official will know what to call or what to let go. It's the same if its a 5-0 game with 30 seconds left in the third and the team winning gets tripped in the neutral zone, you tend to let it go especially if there hasn't been any "fireworks" going on in the game.

The playoffs are a different animal, the battles are harder with more passion there is a ton at stake. It happens in every sport. Just look at the SuperBowl 2 years ago, on the final play if that was a regular season game you might have seen a pass interference call there but not there. Good officials know when to let the players play the game.

Also, I love playoff hockey and the intensity but in my opinion way too many stick infractions get let go simply because it's the playoffs. Just weird to me how regular season and playoffs can be officiated so differently. Shouldn't the league strive for real balance and consistency? It's almost as if there are two separate rule books.
- Routs

IMO so much gets let go in a playoff game because the playoffs are a throwback to what hockey used to be all about: playing through adversity and THEN letting your talent finish the job. The regular season is for the fans, nowadays, to let them be "entertained" by the finesse and the pure skill, but the playoffs are for the players, who can/will/want to fight through all the sticks and clutches and grabs and STILL manage to put the puck in the twine. It's a war of attrition to see who will be the last team standing, the last team worthy of lifting the greatest trophy in all of sports. That's the way it should be and that's why the longer a series goes, the less stick/obstruction infractions get called. Players need to fight through it, they won't be awarded free passes. That's why I love the playoffs so much more, even when my team isn't in it anymore, because it's old-time hockey, not the fast pace, shoutout ra-ra stuff that's supposed to appeal to the non-fans.

Thankfully, Aunt Flow left this household yesterday. Peace has been restored.

If your going to ref by feel then do it and stick with it for the whole game. If your going to call it by the book then do it the whole game. I for one have no problem letting the ref "feel the game" because I think it enhances the hockey being played. Players will put all there effort into puck battles, and so forth without fear of a superficial holding or interference. At the same time if the game starts out being called specifically by the book then it has to continue to be called that way. When the two get mixed is when problems occur. Reffing at a high level takes a special person for sure.