I've been watching Maine hockey since late in the '83-84 season.  I saw two
things during Friday's game that I don't think I've ever seen before, in
any game, not just college.  Both happened in the second period.  Our seats
were right behind the Maine bench so we had an excellent view of the ice
except for one corner.  The first weirdness went kind of like this:  a Maine
player knocks down a Providence player from behind (cross-check, interference?)
in front of the Providence bench.  The referee behind the play immediately
puts his arm up for a delayed call (which was fairly reasonable especially
compared to what happened a few minutes later).  Play continues down to the
right circle in front of the Maine net.  Another Maine player does about the
same move, knocking down another Providence player, though a little more
marginal this time perhaps.  The other referee, who is on the opposite side
of the ice (sideways, not end-to-end) puts his arm up and starts to blow his
whistle.  Now things are a little confused at this point because:  we couldn't
see into that corner very well and the other referee may have also blown
his whistle, too.  Now the weirdness...it appeared that two penalties were
in the process of being called here but only one actually was.  I'd say the
crowd, what there was, also thought it would be two.  Anyway, it sure seemed
like the second referee changed his mind about his penalty.  What seemed to
confirm this happened about 20 seconds later, after play resumed, when a very
weak call was made on Maine which resulted in a 5 on 3.  At the time it seemed
very much like a makeup call of the worst kind.  OK, now I've been reading
all about how referees don't influence outcomes and that blowing the whistle
is not an instantaneous event, etc., etc., so I won't rant on about the
unfairness of this sequence.  It did cost Maine a goal but they very nearly
did kill off the 5 on 3.
 
OK, second weirdness...again in the corner we couldn't see, one of the
referees was struck in the hand/wrist area and had to leave the game for
about 5 minutes (playing time).  There was a stoppage for a few minutes where
the other referee spoke to both benches, then play resumed.  Eventually he
came back (Fowkes?), after a normal play stoppage, with bandages on his hand.
My initial impression, having just seen a player fire the puck into the corner,
was that he'd been hit by the puck.  People behind me said later that he'd
been hit by a broken stick.  I'm curious to know what really happened.  Also,
this is the first time I've seen play with only two officials.  It was a bit
different, too.  Not that either team was blatantly taking advantage.  More
like they couldn't help themselves and the lone referee couldn't/wouldn't
call anything minor.
 
Anyway, does anyone have a comment on these two events?  My final comment is:
can someone please update the directions to Schneider???  We tried to follow
what we found in TEAMINFO but would have been hopelessly lost had we not
stumbled on a sign pointing to campus.  If there's a willing volunteer in the
Providence area, could you please try driving the current directions and
making them idiot-proof?  It would be vastly appreciated!  Nice rink by the
way, but what about those home uniforms...eeeek!  Shades of the Yankees.
 
Dave Reusch
UMaine '86  UNH '95 G