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NHL Thoughts : Old Refs Die Hard

April 16, 2018, 9:44 AM ET [24 Comments]
Adam French
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Penguins vs Flyers : Referees Rising

This was a hard game to watch as a neutral. It’s not that it was bad, because it wasn’t. It’s because the refs made it a trial to the mind. What is a penalty? What isn’t? Who did what? Where? How? Oh the play is still going on! This game was a poorly reffed game and it didn’t actually change what was likely to be the end result of a Penguins win. Giroux and Voracek can’t play that badly and expect to their team to win. Some examples of the poor reffing.

4 uncalled too many men (1 was called! Yay!). 2 for both teams.
So many punches to the face with no penalties until one that looked insanely partisan and cynical in the moment on Konecny.

That’s just an emblematic sample of what happened throughout the game.

Refs Positioning Ruining Flow : I tried to keep track, but one ref was going AWOL the entire game. He couldn’t hold position. It’s hard to track down a ref when you’re using an illegal stream, but I found him. Chris Rooney. Wow, he had a terrible game as a ref. He looked like a drunk on ice at times. I know they have one of the hardest jobs in the game, I sympathize, but he looked too slow for the games speed at times. I want to stress this isn’t about his calls on the ice. It’s about the fact that he caused at least 4 players to drastically alter their trajectory at top speed, was ran into twice and blocked three clearing attempts all on his lonesome. Not a good night.

Wayne Simmonds How We Knew Ye : I don’t think there is a fan of hockey that hasn’t wished in some form to have Wayne Simmonds or a player of his type on their team for at least 5 years. This playoff season, yikes. He looks terrible. Sure he can hit somebody, but anybody being paid 750k can. He’s the premier net presence in the game (Anders Lee has probably taken that from him) and BEST Power Play specialist out there. He has looked like trash in my opinion. He hasn’t been able to do anything in front of the net, effectively making him useless. It’s not like he’s going to kill penalties or drive a line on his own. If he’s not scoring, he needs to be the nastiest player on the ice. He has been milquetoast all series.

Matt Murray Was a Monster : Absolutely dominant game and it adds to his reputation as a goalie that can bounce back through anything. 9-1 after losing a game in the playoffs. That’s remarkable. It’s entirely possible that a “sophomore” goalie could win his third Stanley Cup. One for the record books if it happens. Though his second Cup as a “rookie” is probably even funnier.


Thanks for reading. The ice storm taking out my power at 6pm really screwed my schedule for watching game. Hopefully every in the North-Eastern US and South-Eastern Canada were able to be safe. I took my snow tires off a week ago…smart move!
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