"John R. Nash" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
Late in Saturday night's UW/UAA 5-5 tie, there was what appeared to be a
very questionable call against the Badgers that led to the game-tying goal.
The call was apparently made by the penalty timer (not the ref or asst.
refs), who claimed that Brad Englehart left the box early at the end of
serving a minor.  As far as I know, someone at the scorer's table can't
demand that a penalty be called any more than a fan in the stands can, but
apparently he told an asst. ref to call the penalty, who did.  The Badger
radio color guy (Bill Brophy) said that he was watching Englehart and the
clock and didn't see any early jump, which means to me that even if there
_was_ an infraction, it was a matter of under a second.
 
So... rulebook people, can you confirm that only the ref or asst. ref can
call such a penalty (similar to the old 1-ref 2-linesmen system where even
the linesmen couldn't call penalties that they saw), and not someone at the
_scorer's table_?
 
Unfortunately, the WCHA opens itself up to criticism somewhat with its
local asst. refs, since the asst. ref who called the penalty at the
scorer's request is from Anchorage.
 
Drop the puck!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
John, No, No, No!!!!
        I sit at that end of the arena and pretty much saw the whole thing (didn't see the player leave early, but he would have immediately become part of the play - somewhat akin to a shift change where the oncoming player touches the puck before his replacement gets off the ice). No asst. refs called the penalty. Both penalty box officials got the attention of the referee and had discussions with him at length. Also, someone at the scorers table talked at length with the ref. At that point, he skated over to the Wisconsin bench and had a discussion with them. More discussions/time followed and then he called the penalty. I'm reasonably sure that one would consider these people as well as the goal judges to be, in general, part of the game officials.
        Lastly, it would have been preferable (for UAA) if this penalty wasn't called because it was 4-4 at the time (the tie goal was scored shortly before the original penalty was called) and Wisconsin scored a shorthanded goal as a result of the penalty.
        I do know that Wisconsin was loudly berating the call in the locker room after the game which, realistically, disgusts me. I have always thought of the Wisconsin program as one of the more classy in the WCHA, but this kind of behavior greatly detracts from that - the sour grapes approach! The bottom line is that Wisconsin could have won the game with a better work effort, but they were playing just well enough to stay in the game plus they were letting in soft goals, had defensive breakdowns, and allowed UAA to create offensive pressure (something that UAA is neither trained for nor usually capable of doing). Likewise, UAA had chances to win the game and could easily be faulted for various team breakdowns (i.e. allowing two shorthanded goals, 1 power play goal, and taking a season high four penalties). No, the officials had nothing to do with the overcome of this game. It was simply a matter of team work ethic and desire with no "excuses" appropiate.
        By the way, I've had a bellyfull of "excuses" as you might surmise. I think coaches and players all go to the same school and then publicly recite some x number of an excuse for the media. They also are coached as to which ones to use early in the season, when away from home, and etc. After a while, it gets disgusting to listen to. Fortunately, this year has been a pleasant one for us as that has stopped and we're no longer hearing that redundant list of "excuses" (common throughout hockey). Instead, it's simply that they lost, learned some things, and well be better in the next game. How nice! Some of the WCHA programs reflect this kind of class, but most rely on the "excuse" approach to rationalize and detract from poor team play, poor coaching, or lack of skill. Obliviously, there are cases when the officials deserve considerable criticism, but few losses fall into that category and, even then, it's part of the game to play through it.
        Sorry that this is so long, but you touched on a sensitive nerve which seems to grow in proportion to the years of observing these games.
        Lowell King (UAA fan)
 
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