From: alex@noao.edu (Alex Macdonald)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey
Subject: Re: Wisconsin got screwed!!!
Date: 8 Apr 92 07:56:16 GMT
Organization: National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson AZ

In article <1992Apr6.124049.29139@meaddata.com> paulm@meaddata.com (Paul Marchant) writes:
>
>I watched the game on ESPN and I watched it again, yesterday, off
>tape. There is no doubt that the officiating was bad.

In your opinion, what made the officiating bad?

>The second LSSU goal, with 6 seconds left
>in the second was an even strength goal. It resulted from some poor
>play by Wisconsin in their own zone. They could not get the puck out
>of their zone. LSSU won the face off and number 7 for Wisconsin(sorry
>I don't know his name) ended up tipping in the shot from the point.
>You could see Derkesen(sp?) was upset becasue he had a line on the
>puck and would have made the save.

Joe Harwell is #7, a senior. He's not supposed to do that!
But its 2-2, a position Wisconsin has been in before.

>The penalty with 3 minutes left did not help Wisconsin. But to imply
>that it was the deciding point of the game, I'd argue against that.

What is being argued in Badgerland is that the players were never
allowed to decide the game with their relative skills but rather
the game was decided by referees who still do not understand
their role in hockey. I believe the best refs are those who you
never notice during a game. When a referee decides to take the 
spotlight away from the players for the benefit of a national
TV audience he not only does a disservice to collegiate hockey
but he makes a mockery of the regular season in which both teams
struggled through hard won victories against such powerhouses as
Minnesota, Maine and Michigan by playing hockey with them. I saw
the series the Badgers played this year against Minnesota and the
hockey was nothing short of beautiful. The refs "let em' play" and
play they did.

Do you think the LSSU players thought this was
a classic Division I college hockey battle which characterized 
their fine season?
I know the Wisconsin players don't.

>My take is that they paniced when put under the gun. LSSU did not
>appear to panic even when down 2-0. 

It's hard to panic when someone keeps handing you those 5 on 3's.
On the other hand you get very tired and frustrated playing the
triangle. You have to play one of your best forwards and your
strongest defensive pair for extended periods of time just to keep
the other team out of your net. You just never get any flow, any of
the up and down action that makes hockey such a great sport to watch. 

And at a critical point in the game,
Wisconsin was without their top offensive forward, Doug Macdonald.

In his entire career at Wisconsin I don't believe Macdonald has
ever been called for a misconduct. By his own admission he is
a finesse player and not a "banger". WHAT DID HE DO TO DESERVE
A 10 MINUTE MISCONDUCT!!?  My guess is he said some not so nice
things to the ref. Is the ref so caught up in his own mystique
of a whistle wielding moron he takes these comments out of context? 

Macdonald is a senior, playing his final game at the pinnacle
of college hockey the NCAA championship and someone who doesn't
know him from Adam takes this opportunity away with a wave of
his hand. I think referees come to the game unprepared, with
no plan and no concept of what it is like to play at a high
level of competition. This was the same ref who called six consecutive
penalties against NMU allowing Michigan to climb back into the
game with four unanswered goals. Can you tell I've had run-ins 
with refs before?? :)

>Before the flames start, IMHO, the best team won. 

No flames, you win some and you lose some, the fun is in the playing.
But were they allowed to play?

I would be interested in comments from some of the practicing
referees on the net. It seems to me they are an insecure lot,
alot like policeman-they get carried away with a small amount
of control. The control becomes the enjoyable part of the job
and the game is secondary. "Protect and serve" is a guideline 
which could also be applied to hockey refs, but like some
policeman this becomes just so much rhetoric.

>I also don't think that the antics of the Wisconin players after the
>game was/is indicative of them. If you didn't see, they were all over
>the officials after the empty net goal. Jason Zent, who played
>outstanding all night(scored all 3 Wisconsin goals) sucker punched
>some LSSU player with both benches cleared. Another fight almost
>erupted. Not a very classy way to lose, but again, I don't think it
>was a reflection of the team, just venting some frustration.

From the Arizona Daily Star today, a paper known for its complete
lack of national sports news much less hockey, dateline Madison, WI:

     "The NCAA will investigate a confrontation between University of
Wisconsin hockey players and a referee who worked during the Badgers
championship loss to Lake Superior State, officials said yesterday.
Referee Tim McConaghy, who called 16 penalties on the Badgers in
their 5-3 loss Saturday night at Albany, N.Y., was verbally accosted
by at least 10 Wisconsin players after the Lakers scored an empty
net goal with two seconds left to clinch the victory.
    Northern Michigan athletic Director Rich Comley, a member of
the NCAA Ice Hockey Committee, said the incident would be 
investigated and reviewed by the committee."

Watching these guys play all year they played tough, took some
bad penalties and were accused of talking a little trash but
NEVER displayed this type of behavior. Sounds like they really
believed this guy had destroyed a season of hard work. Work
that had earned them a spot in the final and a chance to prove
they were the best team. It's ashame a referee could take away
that opportunity.

***********************************************************************
* Alex.                                    alex@khaki.kpno.noao.edu   *
*                                                                     *
* "When I came to Tucson, I found that nobody knew what ice was much  *
* less hockey.... One day I will return to the great midwest. To the  *
* sound of skates slashing accross frozen lakes, the music of a       *
* Sherwood striking a puck, the low echo of battleworn boards."       *
*                                                                     *
*                         - a lonely hockey fan       GO BADGERS!!!   *
***********************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey