Steve said, in part ...
>I wonder if there just aren't enough good refs to go around?  The two-ref
>system, while beautiful on paper, hasn't quite worked out the way I
>would've hoped, IMO.  Maybe with time, the "newer" refs, especially those
>who are converted linesmen will become better and we get rid of some the
>poorer refs.  Hockey East fans, can you say "Scott Leavitt" and "Ned
>Bunyon"??
 
   I'm nobody's expert, but I would have said Hockey East ref'ing is
   significantly better now than before the two-man system.  Hockey East
   referees seem to be a veteran group.  Some of them would have very
   serious problems (keeping up with play) in a Division I one-ref
   system, IMHO ...  but are quite good otherwise.
 
   (I may not agree with their style wrt swallowing their whistles near
   the end of a close game or letting marginal calls go, but that
   appears to be a "college hockey" style and not a problem of any
   individual current ref).
 
>[Aside from the refs, does anyone else thinks that calls from the
>blue-line have seriously deteriorated since we've only had ONE linesman??]
 
   90% of the games I see are at Maine's Alfond Arena and all have the
   same linesman (Mike Tuell).  Those games are all called perfectly, as
   far as I can tell (I watch 2 periods from just inside a blue-line).
 
   Obviously most other rinks get to see more of a variety, and maybe
   more variance in quality, ...  but the linesman at Orono is
   excellent!  (Line calls were atrocious the year of the switch to the
   two-man system, though).
 
cheers,
 
Wayne Smith
The College Hockey Discussion List administrator
Systems Group - CAPS              BITNET/CREN:  wts@maine
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