Begin forwarded message:

> From: Brian Morris <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Sun Apr 07, 2002  11:51:14 AM US/Eastern
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Frozen Four Officiating
>
> Well now that I am over the pain of not seeing the games in person
> (especially the two very good Minnesota games) I'd like to make an
> opinion on the officating at the Frozen Four, and college hockey in
> general.  From what I have seen this season, I think the overall
> officiating in college hockey is on the decline, and is an issue that
> the league presidents need to address.  In the three games at the Excel
> Center the only crew I think did a competent, organized job was the
> Sheppherd WCHA crew in the first game.  The Hockey East crew for the
> Minnesota/Michigan game was inconsistent, wavering between a
> call-it-all and a let 'em play philosophy.  Nothing wrong with clamping
> down on chippy play to keep a game in hand, but the officiating in that
> game changed the tempo in the second period as Michigan, and especially
> the Minnesota defensemen, began to shy away from physical contact.  The
> game became a little boring until Hauser's miscues in the final period
> put Michigan back in the game in the waning minutes.
>
> I have saved my strongest invectives though for the final game.  I
> think the Pietrowski CCHA crew was terrible. albeit better than the
> ECAC's, whose officiating has sunk to such depths they didn't even get
> picked, despite having no teams in the Frozen Four.  (Is there a
> connection here?)  Pietrowski starts out the first period by blowing
> his whistle to cut down the physical play.  Maine was forced to back
> off from their strategy of banging the Minnesota defensemen and
> especially the fleet Gopher forwards.  After absorbing several
> penalties and finding themselves on the short end of a 1-0 score
> resulting from a Minnesota power play, the Black Bears noticeable
> backed off in the second period.  For the rest of the game Maine seemed
> to relay more on a chaotic crowd the front of the goal type of offense
> instead of a bang-the-boards, off-to-the races kind of countering
> strategy.
>
> So fine Pietrowski has opted for a tight call-it-all style for the
> Frozen Final?  Wrong.  Third period starts and Pietrowski swallows his
> whistle.  Nothing is called.  Hardly any stoppages of play.  Although I
> haven't seen a complete box score yet I can't remember more than a
> couple of penalties the entire third period.  And Minnesota really got
> away with some good whacks on the Maine players, particularly the
> goaltender Adam Hauser.  Twice Hauser whacked the Maine forwards with
> his stick, the first time in the face, the second time  a vintage Billy
> Smith trip.  Pietrowski adopted the old skewed "call nothing"
> philosophy for the rest of the game, finally using his whistle to end
> the game by calling Maine's Schutte for a trip so blatant that the
> Minnesota player flew about three feet in the air before hitting the
> ice.
>
> Now before all you Gopher zealots fill up my mailbox with your own
> pointed diatribes let me point out IMHO the better team won.  From the
> very beginning I thought Minnesota's skill level was significantly
> higher than the other three teams, particularly in defense.
> Minnesota's D's led by Hobey Leopold are probably the best group I have
> seen this year, willing to gamble and pinch-in deep, but blessed with
> ample speed to get back in position down-ice.  Minnesota's forwards I
> believe were also faster than Maine's, repeatedly able to turn the
> corner against Maine's very disciplined group of blueliners.  On the
> other end Maine's speed guys, particularly Diemotrakis (sp?), really
> couldn't find much space in which to create.  While Hauser made a lot
> of saves, and certainly provided Minnesota the opportunity to win both
> the Michigan and Maine games, I don't think Maine was ever able to make
> the nifty passing plays which result in easy tap-ins.  Maine's biggest
> weapon was the way- off- angle throw the puck at the net shot which
> resulted in their second goal, echoing the second goal scored by
> Michigan on Thursday.
>
> But I still think the officiating was not of the quality I would have
> expected for the showcase of the college hockey season.  Perhaps I
> overgeneralize about the state of officiating in general, since I did
> not see either of the western leagues this year, but the examples set
> in the Frozen Four are not that auspicious, IMHO.  Coupled with the
> simply awful state of ECAC officiating, and the mediocre examples I
> have seen in HE this year, I think college hockey has to start thinking
> about infusing some better quality into its games.  There has been a
> relatively large turn-over of veteran officials in all leagues the last
> couple of years, and the expansion which has taken place may also have
> thinned out the ranks of quality officials.   But I think the leagues
> need to set out some clear critera on how they want their games to be
> officiated, and then work to groom some new crops of officials to fit
> their needs.  I don't think this year's Frozen Four officials
> represented their respective leagues very well (again the WCHA
> excepted) and exemplify the declning trend of officiating in college
> hockey.
> *************************************************************************
> *
> *************************************************************************
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> *********************
> Brian W. Morris
> RPI Engineers
> [log in to unmask]                                             Marc
> Cavosie Stay Home!
>