Yes, I saw this in a CHN news alert a few days ago. There's no detail so
there is no way to know whether this is good or bad.  Are they leaving
because they're trying to bring the ECACHL into line with other leagues or
because they are resisting the change?  No way of knowing.

Why are you posting to hockey-l at this time of day. You're at work. My tax
dollars are paying your salary, so get back to work.  ;-)

On 3/27/06, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Mark,
>
> Since you brought up ECAC (ECACHL?) officials,
> this blurb from the USCHO website may interest you:
>
>
> March 23, 2006
>
>
> Bellemore, Earle To Resign From ECACHL
> Compiled by USCHO Staff
> ALBANY, N.Y. ? USCHO.com has learned that Butch Bellemore, the ECACHL
> Supervisor of Officials, and Brewster Earle, the Director of Officiating
> Development for the ECACHL, will resign their positions once their contracts
> expire in a few months.
> Bellemore and Earle sent their intentions to members of the ECACHL
> Officiating Staff in an email and letter.
> When reached, ECACHL Commissioner Steve Hagwell had no comment on the
> situation except to say that he and Bellemore have talked about Bellemore's
> intentions.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Lewin <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:14:35 -0500
> Subject: Re: (radio) broadcasts and officiating
>
>
> I have seen refs from the 4 leagues within the past two years (haven't
> seen
> any from Atlantic or CHA) and frankly think that all leagues are coming
> together with the exception of the ECAC.
> There are several refs in the ECAC that seem to have bought into the
> program
> with the possible exception that the ECAC is much less tolerant of
> boarding
> and hitting from behind. The unfortunate part is that there is a huge
> variation in referees within the league.  There are one or two refs who
> still seem to think that hockey is a non contact sport.  As the years have
> gone by, I've seen the Hockey East refs go more and more toward a western
> style interpretation.
> Perhaps this trend partially explains why the ECAC has been in decline in
> the NCAA tournament.  Since ECAC teams never see ECAC refs, they usually
> face teams that are more used to the physical aspect of the game and play
> under refs who allow that type of play.  The only ECAC team that plays a
> disciplined but physical style of play is Cornell and coincidentally, they
> are the only team with ongoing success at the NCAA level
>