Whenever a referee appears to screw-up, the Alfond crowd shouts: "We
want Bunyon.  We want Bunyon." This is a tribute to Ned's past screw-ups
at Alfond.
 
Ned has done (at least) one weekend series this year in Orono.
Surprisingly (to me) he did a quite capable job.  He kept up with the
play and tried to watch the whole ice surface.  He called it a bit "too
close" for my tastes, but he called the cheap-stuff and let the
inadvertent-stuff go.
 
Refereeing Div I is a very difficult thing to do well.  The players know
how to hold sticks and spin and dive around phantom hooks.  The coaches
(many or most) try to get an edge (or not lose one) by playing mind
games with the referee.
 
One of my favorite refs came to Orono earlier this year and made (his
linesmen must take some blame) a serious blunder.  Both teams were
whining about calls and non-calls all night.  A penalty was called in
front of the net (perhaps matching penalties?).  He then skated to
center ice looking away from the players, as one frustrated player
slashed out at another.  Several players saw the foul and tried to bring
it to the attention of the ref, BUT HE REFUSED TO LOOK BACK!  Since
tensions were high and no one was to be punished, all hell broke loose.
Many minutes, punches and penalties later, the game resumed.
 
Every referee has his strengths and weaknesses, but I think that HE
referees have improved dramatically over the past several years.  The
older, more experienced, refs are in better physical shape.  There are
many more younger refs that now seem to have reasonable experience.
 
Can anyone on the list talk about "careers" of typical Div I refs?
How did they get to where they are?  How do the maintain/progress?
 
It seems to me that there is a lot more consistency in Div I refereeing
than with linesmen.  A couple that have visited Alfond this year have
gone brain-dead several times each game on off-side and icing calls.
Bill ("I'll drop the puck when I want to") Jones slows a games down more
than TV time-outs.  One linesman, (I've gone brain-dead on his name),
was so consistent at throwing people out of face-offs, that EACH TEAM
put a wing in to take each face-off, knowing they would get thrown out
and the normal center(s) would then get to take the drop of the puck!