Tim Acosta February 18th, 2007 (#):

Panthers suck…if it wasn’t for a couple of really weak calls from the “don’t have a clue” Refs, that the league is full of anymore, Bolts would have won the game by two goals. I wasn’t so much worried about the cheezy penalty calls that we were awarded as much as with the non calls that those two doofus refs missed all night long. I’m also concerned that NHL Refs are seriously loosing their integrity to the “new interpretation of the rules.” I wish they would call only the obvious stuff instead of all nit-picky BS…If someone as much as falls down any more the refs think they have to put their mark on it.
So come on Betman put down your cigar and Riesling and bring some integrity back to the games, at least as far as officiating goes. I believe you owe everyone an appology for insulting our intelligence on the “new dumb a–” rules that only the dumb a– refs seem to know.
Oh by the way Mr. Bettman, you suck too, and when you retire from hockey, good riddens. It will be a happy day for all of us.

Tim Acosta February 18th, 2007 (#):

I can somewhat agree with what you are saying, but I feel that the strict rules have taken too much away from the players and put too much in the hands of the notorious 3rd team on the ice(those Kerry Frazier type refs.) These guys have never done the Bolts any favors and with these nit-picky rules the way they are will always skew in favor of the bad-guys.
The new rules in the NHL would be just fine if they would stop the phantom penalties and just be happy with no two line passes and the shoot-out. The shoot out alone I feel has increased alot of peoples interes. Think about it, what more in hockey is more exciting than a penlty shot.

John F. February 18th, 2007 (#):

I disagree with you Tim.

How you talk about the problem, you seem to think the players are not going to commit infractions on ice. When a penalty is called — that’s not the refs fault, that’s the players fault. What IS a problem is the lack of uniform penalty calls. What defines a clutch, a hold, a trip, a boarding, a crosschecking, high stick and interference changes from game to game. Then when you get to a certain point in the season (and it is very close to that point now) there will be a huge deliberate injury on ice with thanks to the non-uniform penalty calling. Someone will get suspended, there will be a big hoopla about hockey being too violent and this is a failing of the league enforcing it’s rules evenly from the start of the season until the end of post season.

One thing I hate more than anything in this sport is how “hands off” refs are in the post season. If an infraction takes place — I want someone called, I don’t want the game to continue for the sake of keeping it exciting and keeping continuity to the game. No one at the league office realizes that the playoffs get more attention than the regular season. How can a new fan watch the playoffs and then watch the regular season next year when the rules suddenly become totally different? You’ll see someone called for interference for doing something they were allowed to get away with months prior during the playoffs.

And when newbie fans get confused about this non-uniform playcall, they lose interest in the sport. Too confusing.

The penalty shot might be the most exciting play in hockey but if Vinny, Brad and Marty have shown us — the shootout has it’s own special place in the league now, even if the ultra-traditionalists that continue to shove the “Traditional six” nonsense down our throats believe it’s a travesty.