Concerning the recent penalty-filled SLU-RPI game which I had the dubious
distinction of watching ... It was a classical example of frustrations
fueled by an ineffective referee.  I believe the referee's name was
something like Malinowsky.  Although the game started off well, not more
than 3 whistles to interrupt the first 10 minutes, matters degenerated
quickly.  Mr. Malinowsky appeared to have a great deal of difficulty
keeping calls and numbers straight. As far as I could tell, his ineptitude
was at least unbiased - although RPI fans might have a different
impression. Here are some typical examples:
 
1. With RPI on a power play and a general melee in front of the net, a
slashing penalty was called on SLU's Daniel Laperriere (No. 2). Laperriere
claimed (correctly) that he had been near the point and not involved at
all.  So the call was switched to SLU's No. 22 (Mike Allain).
Unfortunately, he was already in the box serving the original penalty.
Well, someone had to go, so in went Laperriere (arguably SLU's top
defensemen) and RPI quickly scored its first goal during the 5 on 3
advantage.  In actuality, the guilty slasher was most likely the SLU goalie
(Les Kuntar- No 1.) so at least the ref was close numerically if nothing
else.
 
2. On a couple of occasions he exhibited a very weak whistle, so that a
couple of players heard him but the rest kept going - once resulting in an
SLU goal which was properly disallowed and another instance generating a
hitting after the whistle call which was tough when the whistle was
inaudible.
 
3. A series of scuffles which broke out with about 3 minutes left and SLU
up 6-3 resulted in several matching triple minor penalties, about half of
the 10 minute misconducts, a few other penalties to players on both sides,
and somehow RPI was awarded a 5 on 3 power play when all was settled.  I
think most in the crowd were relieved that no game misconducts were issued,
although they were probably deserved at that point.
 
4. Almost all the penalty calls took several minutes to sort out.  At one
point a penalty was called on "St. Lawrence No. 6", but SLU has no No. 6 on
its roster.  It looked for a moment as though SLU's No. 9 (Martin Lacroix)
might have to serve the penalty standing on his head, but cooler heads
prevailed.
 
   In defense of Malinowsky several rumors have floated around campus since
the game - (a) it was his first game as a referee (at least in the ECAC).
(b) he was in an auto accident on his way to SLU - totalling his car and
(c) he suffered a concussion and refereed the game anyway.  I have no idea
if any are accurate.
 
Robin "Stump" Lock
RLOCK@STLAWU