texts between me and a guy i work with who is a rangers fan:
him: chara's a *****
rt: what
him: he kept egging boyle on to get in a fight then suddenly wouldn't fight. *****!
rt: if chara wants to fight, he'll fight. they'd be picking up pieces of boyle from around msg.
it's not so much the crappiness itself that bothers me, it is more the blatant "neutering" that seems to be happening when the Bruins play, a game like the Ranger Bruins game last night showed all indications of some on ice fights occuring, the way Boyle was running around, etc., yet the instant any Bruin tries to call him on it the Bruin is in the box.... the same ref was involved in the infamous Bruins Canucks game a few months back where I think it was Thornton getting mugged by 4 Canucks at once by the benches and then the Bruins ended up shorthanded in that situation as well
the refs are taking away the ability for the game to self police itself, and instead creating a way more frustrating situation where guys are running around chipping and playing dirty with no accountability like the Boyle thing last night
Not only were we shorthanded after Thornton got mugged, we were down TWO men for a 5on3 PP that the 'Nucks scored on.. AND Lucic was tossed from the game.
I tend to agree with Kate about everyone complaining about the refs but find me a worse call than that in the current NHL. I bet anyone would be hard pressed to come up with something that even comes close with tossing out a top-6 forward AND be put down 2 men for the full 2min after 6 Canucks jumped one of our guys. Absolutely brutal. I know it happened a long time ago now and it's history but I still get pissed off thinking about it.
announcers 1st time around, Chara doesnt accept boyles invitation, ya OK i'm sure thats how it went down. i couldnt read lips, but boyle turned around after getting the slash & yapped something to Chara. You know Z said wtf are going to do about it. nothing.
Even if Boyle wanted to go, I wouldn't want Chara in the box for 5 minutes for fighting some 3rd liner who has 20 pts and averages 15 mins a game. You wanna fight kid, we got a guy for that.
The refs either need to send a message to both sides when things get chippy. Or let the boys do the talking for themselves. I can't stand when they let one person run around and put the shackles on the guys trying to police the game.
This is why we have so much retaliatory crap in this league.
I honestly didn't think Boyle wanted anything to do with Chara, I'm pretty sure he was telling the ref that Chara was skating with a broken stick, since Chara dropped it immediately.
NBC is brutal, Chara would have fed Boyle his lunch if Boyle wanted to fight.
Boyle was a pansy playing against kids his own age half his size.
He's more of a pansy now. Nobody is scared to fight Brian Boyle. And definitely not Chara.
Not only were we shorthanded after Thornton got mugged, we were down TWO men for a 5on3 PP that the 'Nucks scored on.. AND Lucic was tossed from the game.
I tend to agree with Kate about everyone complaining about the refs but find me a worse call than that in the current NHL. I bet anyone would be hard pressed to come up with something that even comes close with tossing out a top-6 forward AND be put down 2 men for the full 2min after 6 Canucks jumped one of our guys. Absolutely brutal. I know it happened a long time ago now and it's history but I still get pissed off thinking about it.
yes, and if I remember correctly, Vanmassenhoven was the ref that night too
It does feel good to vent, I agree. But I also think there's some serious mob mentality going on when it comes to the officiating.
I agree that Van Massenhoven sucks, but he's been in the league since the early 90s. This year is the first time I remember hearing his name with any regularity, and it all stems from that Canucks game.
Van Massenhoven has been in the league since the 90s and been god awful from Day 1. In my eyes, he took the mantle from Don Koharski.
When the NHL is finally free from the wrath of Van Massenhoven, his legacy will be the old Bud Ice commercial where he said to Robert Petrovicky "I don't know who you are, but if you keep holding, I'm going to put you in the penalty box for the rest of the game." Definitely his finest moment in my book
Van Massenhoven has been in the league since the 90s and been god awful from Day 1. In my eyes, he took the mantle from Don Koharski.
When the NHL is finally free from the wrath of Van Massenhoven, his legacy will be the old Bud Ice commercial where he said to Robert Petrovicky "I don't know who you are, but if you keep holding, I'm going to put you in the penalty box for the rest of the game." Definitely his finest moment in my book
That may be true, but his name is uttered around here in the same vein as people like Matt Cooke. Awful since day 1 is fine,but I can't recall hearing his name around here EVER until that Vancouver game.
It's become a sexy complaint. He sucks, but the volume at which it's being shouted is due to group think, IMO.
"2 minutes for getting in Boyle's face and challenging him"
Pretty much hit the nail on the head there.
I always believed the best officials had a FEEL FOR THE GAME that was being played that night. For example if its the Bruins and the Habs, you know there may be rough stuff / scrums, but unless someone blatantly crosses the line, you don't call that stuff or you call both players and even it up.
If you notice, the officiating in the playoffs seems to allow much more in terms of what I would call 'borderline' penalties, at least in the last few years. Basically they let them play, which in my opinion are the best games to watch.
That may be true, but his name is uttered around here in the same vein as people like Matt Cooke. Awful since day 1 is fine,but I can't recall hearing his name around here EVER until that Vancouver game.
It's become a sexy complaint. He sucks, but the volume at which it's being shouted is due to group think, IMO.
I don't post here a whole lot, but I was complaining about Van Massenhoven while I was in high school. And I graduated almost 20 years ago.
Listing the worst refs in the NHL is kind of like listing the worst fraternities on the campus of Faber College. They are each outstanding in their own way, but Van Massenhoven has to be Top 5
I think the refs have been wildly inconsistent this year (and not just Bruins games).
I think VanMassenhoven is one of the most prone to being inconsistent in game and I think he is horrible at managing games if tempers flare and it gets chippy. He is in general an awful ref.
Here's the thing that I don't get about complaining about officiating....every fanbase does it and feels equally victimized. Is there really any advantage that comes from crappy officiating?
I agree that it's been a tough year for NHL officials, but when every fanbase *****es about it, doesn't it all eventually come out in the wash?
Clearly it is a problem that needs fixing, however you look at it. I think we can all agree on that. I never want to go to a game worrying that the officials might take over the game on their own and not let the players (either team) decide who will win.
I honestly didn't think Boyle wanted anything to do with Chara, I'm pretty sure he was telling the ref that Chara was skating with a broken stick, since Chara dropped it immediately.
NBC is brutal, Chara would have fed Boyle his lunch if Boyle wanted to fight.
Thats exactly what he was saying, you could read his lips.
Here's the thing that I don't get about complaining about officiating....every fanbase does it and feels equally victimized. Is there really any advantage that comes from crappy officiating?
I agree that it's been a tough year for NHL officials, but when every fanbase *****es about it, doesn't it all eventually come out in the wash?
i just don't get where they get these guys!!! they continually make bad calls. have no feel for the game. and in a close game have no sense of an eye for an eye or keeping things somewhat equal. penalties are not equal i understand but if you call one thing in a game shouldn't the same thing be the same penalty in the same game
"2 minutes for getting in Boyle's face and challenging him"
It was great that Boyle finally found some courage when it was only Rich Peverly he had to deal with. 6'7" 245 lbs- is there a bigger puss in the league?
i just don't get where they get these guys!!! they continually make bad calls. have no feel for the game. and in a close game have no sense of an eye for an eye or keeping things somewhat equal. penalties are not equal i understand but if you call one thing in a game shouldn't the same thing be the same penalty in the same game
Agree. I understand that part of hockey (or any sport) is getting a feel for how games are going to be called. a hooking penalty in one game won't even get a second thought from a ref in another game. Fine. I get that. Refs aren't robots.
But it must be absolutely frustrating, in the case of Thornton's penalty, to get 2min for jawing at a guy and then have the guy you're jawing at do the exact same thing THAT YOU WERE PENALIZED FOR to another player and the refs deem that a case of post whistle shenanigans apparently. no call.
Personally.. giving out unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for getting in someone's face is ridiculous to me. And I'd much rather it not be called at all. But if it is going to be called in a game, like Brick always says "make note because that should set the bar"
Unfortunately this season reffing is all over the damn place. A tripping penalty early in the game may not be a tripping penalty later in the game. That will be decided depending on how much time is left, whether one team got more penalties than the other or what the score is and that's gross.
I want to see every playoff game called like the BOS-TAMPA game 7.. I thought for sure Tampa was going to get a PP in the final minutes but credit to the refs, they stayed consistent all game long. And that doesn't necessarily mean you never call penalties.. just stay consistent. That's all.
