Yeah I agree RPI's play did have a lot to do with the outcome of the game,
but to my recollection their play changed after the call, not before it. This
is the "momentum" factor. You've all seen it in football. One big play called
back on a penalty, instead of first down it's fourth and a punt, and things
change. So yes RPI should have come back, and yes their play was substantially
poorer, and yes a really good team wouldn't be so affected by that. So I don't
discount that their are a lot of factors involved and the referee is not
entirely to blame, but...
 
Now this is my big point. I would say that over the years I've followed
college hockey perhaps 1/3 of the refs are really good. That means they keep
up with the play, they call the game consistently, and they don't lose control
of the game. Then I'd say that perhaps a third of them are Jekyll and Hyde
types like MacConaghy. Who have good nights & bad nights, and sometimes nights
that start out good, and end up bad. Then their are the last third, who
perhaps are new to Div 1 officiating and take time to get into the 2nd third,
or just never will.
 
Now maybe hockey fans are harder on officials than fans of other sports, but
it seems to me that the level of Div 1 officiating in other sports is closer
to the level of officiating in the pros than that of college hockey. In other
words the differences in quality of officials between college and pro is
larger in Div 1 hockey than in other sports (at least those with large
audiences).
 
My major gripe is basically with the consistency issue. I feel the fans &
players
deserve referees who can officate a game consistently the whole way through.
Sure maybe they'll have a bad night, but everybody has bad nights, you can
write those off.
 
BTW You never did comment on whether you agreed with my assessment that
MacConaghy was trailing the play often in the 3rd. Also do you know how long
he's been doing Div 1 hockey.
 
- Jay H