#i like. my brain is probably rotted from proximity to the hockey world so. take all my opinions with a grain of salt

[larsnicklas]

people know refs think differently but that’s the whole problem isn’t it. like i don’t think it changes anything to be like “oh but thats not how refs think” yes and fans sre mad exactly at That. like it becomes a little circular dont you think

i’m not changing anything about it i’m just saying. that’s how how they’re trained through the odp. idk if people know how reffing works but most of the time you work your way up much like a player; like you don’t just apply for a job and then you’re hired. you gotta grind! in the us you have the odp, and it’s meant to help officials reach the highest levels of the sport — like the national. coming up through the odp something you learn to do is manage games; manage the temperature and make sure things don’t get too heated, make sure you don’t give teams an undue advantage, things like that. some officials are better than others at this. and of course the better you are, the less you have to give makeup calls. fans tend to hate them but teams Expect them. they know if they get a soft call they’ll need to play carefully to not give the officials any opportunity to call a penalty on them. it’s just part of game strategy, genuinely, and for better or worse it’s baked into the game through all competitive levels. something else that fans don’t think about is various players’ rapport and reputation with officials. no official will admit to this and the league would never acknowledge this happens but many times a veteran player who’s got the respect of the officials will get more leeway, or they’ll get benefit of the doubt where a guy fresh in the league might not.

things have been inconsistent this year for a lot of things and i think there HAS to be more clarity and clearer rules regarding dangerous players like head contact and boarding and charging, things like that. (earlier this season the league had a spell of games with like… handfuls of bad hits into the boards and all were called differently. they have to figure something out with that.) but with anything that approaches embellishment the embellishing player is never going to get benefit of the doubt and that’s how the league, officials, and players want it. (players hate a dive — when it’s an opposing player, at least — more than anyone lol.) at the end of the day fans complaining about officiating — me included — is part of what makes the world go round but i’m just saying it’s not because the officials are biased towards teams

#it doesn’t matter how mad the fans are game management is always going to be a thing and it’s like……. #there’s bigger battles for me re: officiating than some routine game management #like for instance ALL THE GOALS THE CAPITALS HAVE HAD DISALLOWED #so really it’s just like. choose what you’re gonna be mad at 👍 i’ve chosen mine! #sorry about the Thoughts on Officiating Essay i just suspect i know more refs than the average person so just wanted to give some background #i like. my brain is probably rotted from proximity to the hockey world so. take all my opinions with a grain of salt #meg.askbox