As others have noted, the recent bout of ref-bashing is probably not justified in any rational way, but since when are fans rational? :-) I think Frank Cole is one of the better Eastern refs; I was at that Wisconsin-LSSU game in Albany when the Badgers went berserk at the calls. I admit I was rooting for the Lakers, but my memory says that I thought the Wisconsin players were very wrong in their complaints. The calls were pretty fair, I thought. The fact that the Badgers were losing may have influenced their thinking, of course .... :-)) Several of the Hockey East folks have referred to Bob Fowkes reffing games this year with and/without McBride. I think everyone might mean Rich Fowkes. (They're not the same, right?) McBride can ref good games, but his style tends to get coaches, players, and fans more upset, I think; he often spends a lot of time talking and explaining to everyone, and I think this just gives them more opportunity to vent. (On the other hand, he does have a history of making the occasional bizarre call ...) The bashing happens every year, it seems, and with almost no exceptions the refereeing does not cause a team to lose or win a particular game. I don't expect things to change, though; fans and teams will still complain. On the whole Hockey East refs are pretty good. --------------- ---------------------- Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask] Yes, H-L in Cincy!!!! A hopeful BC fan. GO EAGLES! HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.