In response to Eeyore's question about why hockey has a problem with more
than one ref when all the other sports get along fine:  (I apologize if this
has already been answered, I'm on index).    The difference is the calling of
penalties.  Penalties affect the game of hockey a lot more than fouls in B-ball
or penalties in football.  In B-ball a guy gets a couple of free shots and the
game goes on.  In hockey, the guy comes off the ice and the team has to play
short.  Also, penalties in hockey are more subjective than in other sports.
    I originally was a proponent of switching to the two-ref system.  I felt
that people would get away with less and that it would clean the game up a bit.
I was wrong.  All it led to was inconsistent game calling.  I think the CCHA is
on the right track.  Give the linesmen greater powers to call obvious penalties
and go back to the one-ref system.  The linesmen are going to rarely have to
call penalties but hey are there, behind the play, if it is necessary.  The
other key, of course, is to make sure that they are willing to call them.
The league would have to come down on a linesman who clearly ignores a call
just as much as if he screwed up in the other direction.
   As for refs getting in the way more, based on my observations of Steve
Piotrowski over the years, I'd have to agree.  That's my 2 cents.
                                    --Steve Moerland
                                      MSU '92, UK 'sometime next month, UK '?
 
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