Although he wasn't hurt. The referee in the 1992 NCAA Championship game was
accosted by several Badger players on and off the ice just after the
Badgers lost to the Lakers in Albany.
 
The name of this official escapes me now, (I had once swore never to forget
it, but time heals all wounds) but from my vantage point in the second row
I saw some very dangerous things occuring on the ice. The most severe
situation I witnessed was Badger defenseman Maco Balkovec skating up to the
referee and holding the blade of his stick under the chin of the official
while he screamed at him.
 
It was reported that later in the runway several Badgers again accosted the
official. These actions cost the Wisconsin hockey team dearly. In my
opinion, the penalties in game suspensions and the $50,000 fine and were
nothing compared to the two year cloud that seemed to hang over the
program. It wasn't until last year, with the Badgers' surprising season,
that Badger hockey seemed to emerge from out of the funk and play like a
team that was having fun and working hard.
 
I remember that some reports had stated that because LSSU had gone through
a similar situation in the Clarkson game that they were able to use the
situation to their advantage and ultimately win the championship (I think
their goalie actually won it for them).
 
One thing is consistent in these stories of referee attacks. One team
believes that they have been victimized and lost by large measure due to
the "bias" of an official. The correctness of that belief is one that is
open to endless debate. But what is more certain is that the official has
usually become a major focus of the game before the outcome is known. The
official should never be a major focus of the game. I think this is what
leads to these situations.
 
One should not construe these remarks to be a defense of violence toward
referees.
 
Mike Blanchard
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On, Wisconsin!
 
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