In article <[log in to unmask]>,
L. French <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Early in the third period of SLUs Sat. night game with RPI, referee P. Belanger
>lost sight of the puck during a scramble in front of the RPI net and blew the p
>lay dead a few seconds before the puck squirted into the goal.  SLU soph. forwa
>rd, Burke Murphy immediately skated toward the official protesting loudly what
>he felt was a quick whistle.  He deserved a 10 minute misconduct.
 
No he did not deserve a 10 minute misconduct for complaining on the play.
He had every right to complain, as does anyone else.
 
>  However, Belanger stepped into the player, initiating contact.  He then responded as though
> he had been the recipient of the agression and immediately tossed Murphy from
>the game.
 
He deserved a game misconduct for this though.  From my vantage point, while
Pierre was still in the area, Murphy charged him, an did indeed bump him.
It seemed like an attempt to confront Pierre.
 
If Pierre had thought of it as a purposed event, he would have given Murphy
a match penalty, and Murphy would have been gone for the next game SLU
plays as well.
 
Obviously, while Pierre thought it was an accidental bump, he at the same time
should have skated away.
 
> Can someone with officiating experience or expertise comment on the
>instructions officials receive for dealing with situations of this type.  It se
>ems to me that good officials seek to avoid such confrontations by skating away
> or into their circle of protection at the scorers table.  If the player pursue
>s he is penalized.
 
In this case, there was noneedfor Pierre to be near the scorer's table.
He had just blown a play dead and was signalling no goal.  He did not
have time to skate to the table.  After the bump, he then skated to the
table, and got away.
 
In my opinion, Pierre Belanger did nothing wrong with this incident.
But......
Let's talk the rest of the game....
 
>  Belanger often officiates with a chip on his shoulder and this is just the latest example.
 
I agree totally.  Pierre is by far the worst referee available, and his calls
are very borderline, and he is very inconsistent with his calls.
He also seems to bring down his refereeing partner at the same time.
 
My $0.02 worth.
 
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