"That Rule Doesn't Apply Here"

The refs did a pretty decent job last night. They let some obvious interference go, and they missed a few calls here and there (for instance, the allowed me to drill a guy along the boards, then promptly whistled him for roughing when he retaliated 10 seconds later). Twice they simply didn't know the rule.

First, as discussed after last week's game, when the refs assess a checking from behind minor penalty, a misconduct penalty is required. Last night, they called checking from behind against the other team, but no misconduct. The ref who made the call told me it's not the rule ( but see Rule 607(a): "A minor plus a misconduct penalty, or a major plus a game misconduct penalty, shall be imposed on any player who body checks or pushes an opponent from behind.") The second ref instead of disagreeing with me says, "that rule doesn't apply here." "USA Hockey rules don't apply here?" "Not all of them." Um. Ok.

Second, with 3:30 remaining, they called the game because tempers were flaring a bit in a game that was out of reach. This, too, is not allowed under USA Hockey:

Under what circumstances may a Referee terminate a game prematurely?

The only permitted premature termination of a game, other than for lack of available players, is if conditions beyond the control of all game participants (teams and Officials) become unsatisfactory. Rule Reference 637(f).

These examples would NOT qualify for premature termination of the game:

• obvious lack of bench control on one or both teams;
• midway through the game 50 penalties have been called.

I can't say whether they made the right decision. It didn't follow the rules, and as it turned out, it didn't prevent a fight, either. But I certainly understood their thinking.