This week the passion blog caught me off guard because of the weird schedule we have had. I was having trouble thinking of a topic to write about, when Kylie gave me a great idea, Referees. Referees are the people that look like zebras out on the ice during hockey games. There job is to keep the game fair, which in my opinion isn’t always the case.

Granted I have to be a little lenient on my critiques because I know being a ref can be hard because there is so much to keep track of at all at once. On the other hand refs can be infuriating during a game. If they make a bad call or blow their whistle at the wrong time it can completely change the momentum of the game. A refs main job is to keep the game fair, but the majority of refs do much more to change the game (which isn’t what they are suppose to do).

First off refs always get in the way on the boards. They are suppose to stay out of the way of the players and puck as to not influence the play of the game, but on average refs get in the way 10 times in a game. In the last game I played in the puck bounced off the refs skates and in front of our own net, thankful they didn’t score on the prime opportunity given to them by the refs but there was still a shift in my team’s attitude after the close call.

Refs are human, I understand that, but a lot of times they let their own opinions dictate their calls. One thing a team and coach have to keep in mind is not to make the refs mad because you know you won’t get any good calls the rest of the game from the refs if you are on their bad side. I believe that refs need to keep their bias out of calls and keep it fair for both teams.

Now to pick on the refs out here. Back home in Minnesota I was content with how the games were called. I think the refs do a very good job at keeping the game fair and staying out of the way. Out east on the other hand, from my own experience so far the refs are awful. They don’t know the general rules of the game, they are way too influenced by their own emotions, and they influence the play of the game way too much. After playing out here for a few months now I have come to appreciate the refs back home. The experience I had with refs in Minnesota also allows me to see what an awful job they do out here.

Like is said before I understand refs are human and they make mistakes, but I think there is still a standard that each ref has to reach during a game even with human error. If refs back home can call a fair game without getting too involved why can’t all refs do that?