ROBOTS vs HUMAN NHL REFEREES

NHL Referee Huddle

Based on the most recent discussion on the SteveDanglePodcast and the debate over off side calls and robots….

I think you have to first decide FIRST which interest is more important:

1.      Fans / Entertainment
         -or-

2.      Teams/Coaches/Players

-Fans WANT to be entertained.  Teams NEED to win.-

When you state that Sports is ENTERTAINMENT that may be true – but it’s jobs and money for Teams/Coaches/Players.

So the way I see it – Video Replay is solely for Teams. They will exploit anything and everything if it means winning at the end of the day.  Teams are eliminated from playoffs based on one game.   That will cost a team Millions of extra dollars if they miss out.

If TEAMS is the primary interest – then I agree with Jesse – ROBOTS. 

However the opposite is true if the FANS are the primary interest.

Eliminate Video Replay.  Even goal line reviews.  All of it.  How many times has a missed call been complained about by the coach to a ref and the ref than makes up with it by calling something against the other team?  How many times have we heard how vital the Refs position to influence the game is?

The down side to this is if referees become compromised the same way FIFA has a problem with its refs and bribing.  Just look here at this 'influencing' scandal:  Footballs biggest fixing scandals Liverpool Juventus Manchester

So – one or the other.  This Hybrid isn’t working.

Leafs Re-Boot

Leo Komarov - www.canada.com

I was so happy with the Leafs when they competed in the playoffs two seasons ago.

I told my fellow hockey fans that I didn't expect anything from the Leafs except some building blocks and a taste of the playoffs.  It was a young energetic team that was gaining valuable experience.  They were great days to be a Leafs Fan.

I was happy to see them win 1 game in the series.  I really liked the 'lunch bucket' attitude they had. They had lots of grit, for-check and toughness.

This was a team to be proud of - they left it all out there and played for each other.

All other teams hated the Leafs.  Not because of the cliche 'leafs suck'. But because the Leafs broke other teams.  They were tough to play against.  With 1 line of  skilled players (JVR/Boz/Kess) and 3 lines of fast, pesky, grinding players with some fists to back it up they were formidable.

That all changed last year when the 2nd line was gutted (Grabo/MacArthur/Kule) in favor of Kadri and Lupol.   Those 2 were decent but their lack of production put more strain on the top line to score.  Kadri didn't live up to the hype and the pressure put on him.

Not signing Leo last year lost the Leafs more grit.

The Lunch Bucket hard working team transformed into 1 line of skill that scored almost every goal on  a 2 on 1 breakaway.  Leafs couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone because they no longer had any grinders.

That meant more D-zone time which is where it all fell apart.

The balance was lost.  Sure the D was a disaster, but had the puck not been in the D zone as much - I think they could have held back the 12 game collapse.

I sincerely hope the 'brass' is trying to re-capture some of what they cut last season and make this team worthy of pride again.

Sure - leadership is important - but so is some of the lunch bucket effort.

Today I Learned Jack Adams was from Thunder Bay

I was watching the Winter Classic over the Holiday.  During the pre-amble Don Maclean mentioned Jack Adams, Toronto Maple Leafs and Thunder Bay in the same sentence.

I was born and raised in Thunder Bay. Played minor hockey in Thunder Bay. Seen the Stanley Cup visit here numerous times thanks to the Staals, and Patrick Sharp.

Thunder Bay has a pretty good hockey factory. 

But not until the other day did I learn of Jack Adams and his roots.   It was one line - but enough for me to be dumbfounded?  How did I not know of this?   "...when Jack Adams from Thunder Bay went to the Toronto Maple Leafs..."

He played for Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and won 2 Stanley Cups. 

He coached the Red Wings to 3 Stanley Cups and still holds the most wins as coach to this date.

The Jack Adams award in his honor is awarded to the most valuable coach in the NHL.

A mistake I made was thinking the "Adams" division was in his honor as well.  It is not.  Charles Adams is who the division was named after.

Sources:
Wikipedia

Tbnewswatch

What about the little guy?

WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE GUY?

I'm torn.

Do I really care if the NHLis locked out?

Again? 

It's like the devil and the angel on my shoulders, whispering into my ears with suggestive thoughts.

The Angel says: 

• yes despite the fact that this round of labour agreement talks is purely about money and nothing else
• Sure - Gary Bettman won't admit that Phoenix isn't working and wants the players to pay for his mistake
• The league is using 'lockout' as its first move instead of last
• The league will make more money in its return from lockout than it lost in the abssense of a stoppage - as proved last time this happened

An easy desicion to say sure - who cares if there's no hockey. This is just greed at work. But the Angel on my shoulder says - what about all the minimum paying jobs of employees that won't be working in the arenas, that won't be feeding their families?  They'll be out of work.

The Angel says - swallow your pride and your angst and think about the little guy - no one else is right now.  Hope for no lockout.

The Devil on the other shoulder has these points:

• Your a Leafs supporter.  That's too bad - but its a fact - you bleed Blue and White.  But lest be clear here, your team has made one change and will be basically fielding the same team as last season. 
• Last season's Leafs cut out your heart and stomped on it in February.  Do you really want to go through that again? 
• Maybe the lockout isn't such a bad idea.  Your Leafs will have more time to make changes
• MLSE will be officially owned by Rogers and who knows?  Maybe they'll fire Burke and clean house and rebuild - again.  
• A rebuild will be far more exciting than a reboot of last season's Leafs installment

 The Devil says - screw em!

Dear NHL, 2 On Ice Referees Isn't Working

Too many referees on the ice still making bad calls.

Dear NHL,
I'm writing this letter in response to some of the questionable calls and non calls your referees made and did not make.

Please take the 2nd official off the ice and put him behind a tv so he can watch the same game the rest of us are watching.  Equip him with a headset and microphone.  Give the other ref the other headset.  No one else needs to hear what they're saying.  The 'tv ref' can than assist the on ice ref by telling him what's 'really' happening.

Examples are and not limited to:

"The puck is still clear.  The puck is in the net. A player behind you that you don't see just speared another player and the other player is now chasing him down.  There was no goalie contact.  There was goalie contact.  There was goalie contact but its not his fault - the dman cross checked him into the goalie.  That wasn't tripping.  That's a dive."  Etc Etc Etc.

This would easily clear up the animosity of fans vs refs.  If coaching staff are connected to assistants up in the box seats with headsets why can't the refs be?  I'm optimistic that the refs could get up to speed within a week.  Sure you'll need to make some rules and adjustments.

We take "TV Timeouts" for commercials on Tv, i don't think taking 30 seconds to review a play isn't too much to ask if its going to make and break the game.

Please get with the times.

Thank you.