Officiating @ Nationals

[KSiordia66]

The WCRHL has had a huge crackdown on the physical play this season. Are the same rules going to apply at nationals?

[ISFN]

The WCRHL has had a huge crackdown on the physical play this season. Are the same rules going to apply at nationals?

I dout it, the SCC vs. LU game was all out. Great game played by the players and great game called by the refs, they let both teams really apply and use their skill and strength. an actuall "check" is what caused the first goal by SCC.

I sure hope for the sake of the GP teams they dont call it soft.

[aWAKEnD518]

I dout it, the SCC vs. LU game was all out. Great game played by the players and great game called by the refs, they let both teams really apply and use their skill and strength. an actuall "check" is what caused the first goal by SCC.

I sure hope for the sake of the GP teams they dont call it soft.

so basically, you don't really know?

the GP played rough, we played "tightly regulated"

everyone could've been different

does anyone know where the officiating staff will be coming from?

[MBurke]

does anyone know where the officiating staff will be coming from?

Everywhere, as always.

[KSiordia66]

The offciating in the WCRHL was so different from previous years, often times it felt like I was playing rec league and 0 contact rules. It was pretty frustrating sometimes. I guess we'll just have to adapt all over again for Nationals

[bobraynor]

ECRHA also has had a tightening of the calls, which has actually resulted in much better and more consistent reffing this season. I remember reading that Nats last year was very loosly officiated. Is there any way to regulate the reffing so that it is consistent? Does the NCRHA board send out letters or have meetings with the head ref's to talk about how tight or loose the calling should be? I guess it would be difficult for some teams to adapt to a reffing style they aren't accustomed to in one weekend and there would be a lot of complaining going both ways.

I do think that something concrete should be worked out or announced within the next week or so, so that teams know how to prepare for it and aren't upset when they are expecting one style of reffing but are getting another.

Just my two cents.

[DGlass]

The ECRHA instituted the New Standard of play in accordance with USAHIL and the wishes of the NCRHA. All regions should have enjoyed a season that is true to the rulebook and takes much of the impeding play out of the game.

With the National RIC and some of the best refs in the college game attending Nationals, there is little to believe that Nationals will not be officiated in the proper manner - how the rulebook reads.

[CUDangled]

The SECRHL refs this year were outstanding, although I heard they played strip poker with each other and then had a naked pillow fight with JR. JR won.

Not sure which events you attended...but nothing could be further from the truth. Although the pillow fight incident may be true! haha

You never knew what you were going to get. A tight game, loose game...hell, it might even change DURING the game. I don't want to point fingers at particular people...this isn't the place to do it, but some of the officials just didn't seem up to par to work our league. Others were fine. It just came down to the luck of the draw and who you had working your games. If you got both newbies in one game...GAME OVER. Just look at the PIMs for the season. Look at it event-to-event. Or even game to game. You can label a particular team "dirty" or "clean", but explain how a "clean" team can go for several games with 1-3 penalties a game, then suddenly jump to 6-7+ penalties a game. You might be able to explain away one or two games with the "rivalry" excuse, but then explain an entire weekend. We saw events with 10+ calls a game for just about every game, then the following weekend the same teams, for the most part, would play again with different officials and average 5 calls a game. I understand the "new emphasis" on calling the hooking and holding, etc...but it gets to the point where the spirit of the game suffers when the teams constantly play on special teams. LET US PLAY!

I will agree the officiating at regionals was good.

[RUsigs11]

I've got to agree with you there. Sometimes, hooks, holds, picks, and other infractions were ignored... other times they were called. It all depended upon which officials were working that particular game, and how they interpreted the actual rule (which is actually very similar to the situation in the NHL today).

I feel that this was the case all season in the ECRHA. Hopefully the officiating will become more consistent in the future as the refs acclimate to this new standard. I don't think anyone felt it would happen overnight.

[oldschool22]

I bet they let a lot of physical play go. They usually do come nationals, despite whatever direction the league is trying to establish. In the 6 tourneys I have played in, the officiating has always been rock solid (with the exception of 1 game that I played in). The best refs call consistent games, which is always the standard at the NCT.

[sostrow]

ECRHA tightened up a lot this year on almost the entire game. However, come regionals it was all back in the game. For the most part it was completely back to before this season started. I'm not complaining because I believe it makes for a much better game to watch. Just stating that playoffs are playoffs, and no matter how many time administration and refs say it will be called tight like the regular season... it's not.

[Stew6]

ECRHA tightened up a lot this year on almost the entire game. However, come regionals it was all back in the game. For the most part it was completely back to before this season started. I'm not complaining because I believe it makes for a much better game to watch. Just stating that playoffs are playoffs, and no matter how many time administration and refs say it will be called tight like the regular season... it's not.

I really hope you are wrong. I watched a couple games from last year's nationals, and I was amazed at how much stickplay there used to be. I had totally forgotten that you actually had to fall down or lose an arm to get a hooking call last year.

However, i don't believe that lax officiating makes for "a much better game". The lack of stickplay, if anything, will reward skill and hustle, instead of the ability to poke someone with your stick.

I think the SECRHL refs did a great job with the new standard this year, at least in terms of stickplay. The only thing I can think of that I consistently did not agree with them on was that Gabelman should have had at least a misconduct per game with that mouth of his.

[PMoyer3]

I guarantee it will be called tight. Every year we went to nationals we took twice as many penalties than during the regular season. This year they have cracked down even more...expect to be frustrated

[KSiordia66]

can Luis ref all our games?

[GoRangrHky]

Yeah, at the ECRHA regionals, there was a LOT that wasn't called that had been earlier in the season (including flat out checks) which made it feel like it was back to the level it was at before this season.

I know my team will be watching plenty of games before we play to see what level they will be calling games at, not only the early on games, but throughout the course of the weekend, as well as different types of teams and the different officials.