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I'm a referee. I can make up calls if I want to!

Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 1:03 pm
by steelcity_ballin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KJm-qcnnC0

First, I'm a HUGE wings fan. This was a clean hit that was not called on the ice. You can't make up penalties after the fact just because you don't like what happened. Sorry your player decided to put his head down and got destroyed for it. I hope he's ok, Havlat could seriously be the next Lindros with the beatings he takes. Still, here are my issues. The video clearly shows that Kronwall made a clean hit. It also clearly shows that Havlat was possessing the puck, was it on his stick? No. However, you don't need a freaking degree to know that the timing was perfect and that Havlat was playing the puck.

Furthermore, there is NO SUCH THING as a 5 Minute major for interference, IT DOES NOT EXIST. Really, there is no rule in the NHL for what they called last night. So, the refs made up a penalty and threw out one of our better defenseman. Don't even get me started on the non-calls the wings received in the first period while the hawks received over 12 minutes of PP time. It was unbelievable. All 4 reds on the ice did not raise their arms when it happened. To me, this is like saying "Well there's no replay evidence that the entire puck crossed the line, but it probably did, let's give it to them."

I really believe those 4 refs need docked some money heavily. The degree to which they **** up last night is beyond unacceptable. It's one thing to get a call wrong, it's another to make up rules that don't exist at all, and look the other way for one team almost exclusively. After the legal hit, Kronwall was mauled by their team, was there any roughing called? No I didn't think so. You're not going to see any disciplinary action taken either, because everyone and their mother knows it was a totally clean play.

Argue what you will, the proof is in the pudding.
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Re: I'm a referee. I can make up calls if I want to!

Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 1:24 pm
by Captain Ned
Pete, as much as I want to see the Wings lose and the Hawks make the finals, that was a clean hit. Your Lindros reference is apropos, as that hit was just as hard as the one that Stevens laid on Lindros (although that was clearly an elbow).

Re: I'm a referee. I can make up calls if I want to!

Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 1:48 pm
by steelcity_ballin
Well I've got to retract / redact a little bit of my post. I was reading through the NHL rules a bit more and apparently a Referee DOES have the power to transform a penalty into a Major/ misconduct based upon the degree of violence and brutality. I guess my point is still that I didn't feel it was interference, so you can't elevate a non-call. I think the hawks will see success after the pens, they are who the pens were when Crosby first joined the league IMO. Maybe a bit better because of their supporting cast.

When I watched the Steven's hit, Mother of God I could not believe what i had just seen. I really thought he might have been dead. To be moving that quick with your head down and have a 200lb "shoulder" delivered squarely on the jaw... The position he collapses into is still fresh in my mind. I think the Kronwall hit was even harder as Steven's comes across him on an angle, and Kronwall just kinda levels right into him. The first thing I was screaming at my screen last night was "MOVE MOVE MOVE GET THOSE SKATES AWAY FROM HIS THROAT AND MOVE THAT DANCE SOMEWHERE ELSE HE NEEDS HELP!!!!"

Re: I'm a referee. I can make up calls if I want to!

Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 2:14 pm
by Captain Ned
The refs and linesmen did a good job in pushing the pile away from Havlat as he lay there and, as YouTube makes clear, the trainer was off the bench before the whistle blew given how quick he got there.

Re: I'm a referee. I can make up calls if I want to!

Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 3:18 pm
by Hoser
The misconduct was for intent to injure was it not? That call is completely at the the referees discretion. I think the call was mostly because Havlat was coming out of his turn in the same way a player would come around the net and not notice someone coming at them. Kronwall had to have seen that Havlat did not see him and should have eased up. It's not that Havlat had his head down, he was looking for the puck because he never got a handle on it and actually skated past it.

Was it a legal hit.........yes.
Was it a hit that should have happened.......yes, but Kronwall had enough time to go after the puck and not simply take the man.

Re: I'm a referee. I can make up calls if I want to!

Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 4:00 pm
by steelcity_ballin
You're allowed to hit a player when they are not looking. I am upset that it's looked upon as a cheap or dirty play - far from it. Kronwall was doing his job, we're becoming accepting that "oh well, he wasn't looking, so we should ease up". No. Intent to injure would have involved an elbow, or a crosscheck to him instead. He made the conscious decision to keep it clean by leading with the legal shoulder, keeping his feet planted, and finishing his check.

So let me play devil's advocate then, because the force in which he was hit is a matter of physics with his weight and speed a factor in the collision, should we limit the speed in which heavier players can deliver a hit? Suppose he makes the same exact play but for whatever reason havlat bounces back up, is it still a penalty? Come on. Bad call, Bad 1st period of officiating both ways.

Do i think it cost Detroit the game? Maybe. They came back and lost in OT, but if you ask me, it never gets that far if the first period was called even remotely right. It was slanted beyond comprehension. I saw Hawk players taking to the air like god damn super man with no diving call, thankfully no call the other way either. It was disgusting. Then on a PK later in the game detroit player is clearly hooked, then tripped to the extent he slides into the boards - no call. I about **** a brick.

6 penalties for 25 minutes in the first period, you think maybe the refs got a call at the intermission? They didn't call another penalty on the wings all game. I'm not proposing the reds had it out for the wings, I'm re-inforcing they called a really bad game. The 4 minute high stick with no blood was laughable too.

Re: I'm a referee. I can make up calls if I want to!

Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 1:01 pm
by Hoser
So then let me be the advocate to your advocate......

Does this mean that the game should only be a survival of the strongest? Only those who can give (and take) the strongest physical play should be allowed to play? No. I know that's not what you meant, but there has to be a onus on the players for making sure they are not going to purposely injure another. IMO Kronwall knew that Havlat did not see him and should have known to try and avoid the hit and go for the puck as Havlat did not have control. Kronwall could have got the puck and kept it in the zone. Instead he chose to take Havlat out when he was in a vulnerable position (at least it appeared that way).

edit - spelling & grammar