At 11:10 AM 1/24/96, Wayne T. Smith wrote:
>I see relatively few games outside of HEA, but it's clear to me that
>the Two-ref system works very well for HEA.  The first season or so
>was a bit rough, but officiating now is, IMHO, the best that HEA has
>had (over it's short existance).
 
I'll just chime in to agree with Wayne.  The two ref system has given us
better officiating in HE, partly because the infractions behind the play
that were not being called before, are being called now.  It usually
results in less of that stuff going on and that means a faster game.  There
also seem to be fewer missed calls as well as bad calls.
 
I would add that the times that officiating in a HE game has been subpar,
it has seemed to have more to do with the officials themselves doing a
subpar job and not the fact that they are working within a two-ref system.
The referees who are not as good are still going to do a worse job at
times.  However, with some of the pairings, the effect of that subpar
officiating tends to be lessened.
 
Adam Wodon writes:
>And I have never talked to a Coach or player that
>likes two refs.  The ONLY people that seem to want it is the league
>higher-ups.
 
I can't say I have talked to many people about this question specifically,
but that may be because it never seems to be an issue.  I don't hear many
unsolicited complaints from HE people about the system.  Thus, I cannot
agree with a blanket statement that the two-ref system is bad.  HE seems to
have shown that it can work well.  I haven't seen enough to know whether it
can or cannot work well in other leagues; the CCHA has apparently decided
it cannot.  I wonder how much that has to do with the officials or the
league's approach to the system, rather than the system itself.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
>> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System  <<
*****       Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at:       *****
*****   http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html    *****
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.