Matt R. writes (about the North Dakota - Denver brawl):
>And guess who was one of the officials in the game?  I'm sure everybody on
>Hockey-L who watches WCHA games is right now saying "Brutal Bob Ames"!
>
>How in the world can a guy in the locker room with an injury get a major for
>fighting?
 
Obviously he can't, and "Brutal Bob" made a mistake.  In the midst of a
bench-clearing brawl, it's easy to understand how an official might come up
with the wrong uniform number when calling a penalty.  What I'm wondering
is, did anybody at the Denver scorers table try to tell Ames that the player
he was penalizing for fighting was not on the ice at the time?  I've seen a
few situations where a ref will call a penalty or credit a goal to "#X" and
then find out from the official scorers that "#X" is not in the lineup, or
is in the penalty box already, or some such.  If the mistake is pointed out
nicely, I suspect most refs would try to rectify it.  At any rate, I don't
think a ref (even Ames) would intentionally call a disqualification on the
wrong player, especially if that player was in the locker room at the time.
 
>I know Jack McDonald, the Athletic Director at DU reads this list.  Can't
>you guys talk to Foyt (who himself is a questionable ref) and get rid of
>clowns like Ames?
 
I have never seen Ames do a WCHA game, but he did the Cornell-Air Force
series a few years back, and he lived up to (down to?) his billing.  I
believe in the ECAC, coaches are supposed to fill out some kind of form
about the officiating after every game; does the WCHA do this?
 
I suspect if enough complaints (specific ones, not just "This guy stunk!")
are made, the WCHA will have to take some sort of action on Ames.  However,
even if they do can him, it more than likely won't improve the overall
officiating that much -- because who's going to be his replacement, and why
isn't that replacement reffing WCHA games right now?  The ECAC has gotten
rid of a few BAD refs over the last few seasons, but IMHO the overall offi-
ciating in the league has not improved a great deal, if at all.
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick                        |  Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and '94 (.5)            |  [log in to unmask]
LET'S GO RED!!
"You know how they're always naming drinks after various celebrities?  Well,
 there's a new one now called the Tonya and Lorena.  It's club soda with a
 slice."
-- Jay Leno