I agree that the "Let the Boys Play" play issue is a big problem. But aside
from the amount of fighting that is tolerated in the NHL (and I assume
that's a league philosophy as opposed to individual taste on the part of
each ref), I find that there is much more consistency across the board in
the NHL than in college.  Of course, that is due to the fact that you have a
higher pay scale (and presumably better qualified individuals) and a
consistent ruling body.

One of the big issues in college hockey is the oversight of referees and
rule enforcement on the part of the individual leagues. It  would be
virtually impossible to get inter-league consistency in the NCAA since
leagues like the ECACHL have low tolerance for physical play, especially
along the boards while the western leagues allow much more physical playing
but have a lower tolerance for the clutching and grabbing seen in the
ECACHL. When holiday tournament time comes around and NCAA tournaments come
around, the result of two teams from different leagues playing (and a
referee from a third league officiating), the results can be somewhat
chaotic.  And that doesn't even address the issue of differing referees
within a single league.  Ideally, it would be nice to let the boys (and
girls) play.  But, what I mean by that, is that it would be nice for the
players and coaches to know what constitutes holding, what constitutes
hooking and what you can and cannot do along the boards and in the corners.
And it would be nice if you only had to learn those definitions once, not
have to relearn the definitions each game for each new referee (and
sometimes re-learn from the same referee at the start of each period).

At this stage, I believe it's less important for college to adopt the NHL
standard than it is for the entire NCAA to adopt the same standard and
enforce it uniformly across the board.  The game should be about the
players, playing within the rules. You can't have that if the rules are open
to each and every official on the ice.  Then the game starts being about
them rather than the people  competing.

On 5/16/06, Erik Biever <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Having watched a bunch of NHL playoff games, I must say that I like the
> four-official system.  I'd also like to see college hockey adopt the
> current
> NHL standards for holding and interference, i.e., actually calling the
> penalties.  The NHL somehow avoided geting bogged down in the "let the
> boys
> play" argument that pervades college hockey.
>
> -- Erik
>
> Wayne writes:
>
> > Larry Mahoney of the Bangor Daily News writes about a four-official
> > system proposed for college hockey, Hall of Fame game at the Xcel Energy
> > Center, the Maine hockey banquet and other items of interest ...
> >
> >   http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=133940
> >
>