Brad Marchand does what Sidney Crosby wouldn't and directly calls out what's wrong with NHL officiating
Over the weekend Sidney Crosby took a subtle shot at NHL officiating when he claimed that he wasn't allowed to say what he really thought. Prior to his comments Crosby had received a game misconduct for the first time in his NHL career. That career eclipsed 1,160 career games before an official felt Crosby deserved to be ejected.
Officiating this season has been highly criticized and Tuesday afternoon Brad Marchand added to this criticism. Unlike Crosby though, Marchand didn't offer subtle shots, instead he shared exactly how he felt about the officials performance Saturday against the Washington Capitals.
Around the league, whether you call everything chintzy like they did on �CC' or �Lindy' [Hampus Lindholm], or let it all go. It can't be half-and-half throughout the game. You know guys have no idea what they can and can't do, but that's part of it. The NHL has taken a significant reputation hit this season due to their refusal to allow players and coaches to offer any form of criticism. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has also been on record of saying that he believes they have the best officials in professional sports.
Marchand is 100% right when it comes to officiating. Players don't care that the referees call games tight, or whether they let players away with things. What players care about is whether or not the officials are consistent with those calls for both teams. Hopefully the NHL takes this into consideration and makes the appropriate changes to officiating.
POLL |
Does the NHL have an officiating problem? |
Yes, the referees have no accountability | 2240 | 92.8 % |
No, the reffing is fine | 51 | 2.1 % |
People just want to whine about everything | 124 | 5.1 % |
List of polls |
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