The NHL is one of the most difficult leagues to officiate. That being said, NHL refs seem to have more of a negative impact on games than in just about any other sport.
The St. Louis Blues lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in game two of the Western Conference Quarterfinals and it felt like it was taken from them rather than the Blues actually losing it. The referees and perhaps the league itself made several controversial calls that ended up heavily impacting the game.
It’s a problem that seems to happen too often in hockey and it gives the sport a bit of a stain for fans. Rightly or wrongly it even gives the impression that the league has a vested interest in certain teams succeeding.
As fans, we always see things from the perspective that benefits our team and thus ourselves. So, of course we always think that the refs have it in for us and the league is colluding against our team etc.
As a soccer official, I can tell you that we could not care less who wins or loses even if we really don’t like a certain player or coach. Any official worth their salt will call the best game they can and let the results happen.
The problem with the NHL is that it is the most inconsistently called sport of all the major sports and that includes soccer.
Sure soccer has it’s fair share of messups, but most of it boils down to poor positioning or not having the angle on a certain call. In hockey, you can take the exact same play and give it to the exact same official and depending on his mood or the time of the season or even the time of the game you can get completely different calls.
Hockey is such a bang bang sport that replay seems to have actually made things worse. Much like the NFL, calls that seem easy to make take forever and then they don’t get it right. Or perhaps they do get it correct but it was not conclusive, which goes against the spirit of the rule.
The problem that these officiating mistakes make is it gives people an out. Instead of being able to say that Chicago was just better or luckier on that night, or any team in similar situations, people now wonder if the result should have gone the other way. It’s difficult playing against two opponents.
Ken Hitchcock will likely get fined for his comments, but that’s how it is. The officials may impact the game but you can’t let it alter your own game. That’s incredibly hard to do though when you never know how things will be called game to game and even period to period.
Next: Blues/Blackhawks Perfect Fishbowl Example of This Problem