Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017
The officiating was as bad as I've seen. The low mark was Bradshaw calling a penalty against Mankato, but blew the whistle when the Badgers had the puck. I don't know, I just expect better at some point. One question (not rhetorical) I have is what's the rule on icing when players hit the circle at the same time? There were a couple of times where the Badger chasing the puck, at the very least was dead even with the Mankato player and they ruled it icing. If that's the rule, then nevermind.
On the first thing, I have to disagree with you on how bad the officiating was. I know you've been watching for more than a couple of years. Remember when every 3-4 weeks, they'd refuse to call more than one or two penalties in a series and not even look like they were trying? The refs weren't great this past weekend, but they looked like they were actually trying to officiate a hockey game. We used to see
far worse officiating. They would have unobstructed views of players punching opponents in the head and let it go. They'd be watching the play intently, right as a puck-carrier is lumberjack-slashed with no call. Even for women's college hockey, it was inexcusable. (Let's remember how hard it is to find outstanding officials in this league, given the various pathways in the hockey ref landscape.) The past couple of seasons have been notably different. The absolute worst we get now is mediocre at a minimum, rather than completely disgraceful. Let's remember what used to be pretty regular. I remember the Langley/Wrazidlo pair, and sometimes Doocy, would be the officials who seemed to prefer a free-for-all hockey-ish event, rather than making a visible attempt to do their jobs. (I had to find a couple of box scores to spell Wrazidlo and Doocy (how many Os was it?)...they're not on the WCHA site anymore.
Yes, the defense is supposed to get the benefit of a tie, so it should then be icing. Good luck trying to figure out what the rule is based on how the WCHA linesmen/women call it.
To clarify this, the hybrid icing rule gives the benefit to the defensive team in the event of a tie, but remember that it is not strictly a race to the face-off dots. Whoever has the advantage in the race to the puck gets the benefit of the call, and that
decision is made by the time a player reaches the face-off dots. If neither player is deemed to have an advantage at the time of the decision, that's when it's a "tie." One player may reach the dots before the other, but they could still "tie" because of where they're skating and where the puck is going.
Anyway, you know what ticks me off the most about WCHA women's hockey officials these days? The implicit ban on penalty shots. I don't get it. The Badgers got called for hooking...one of those instances of hooking that was a
result of the attacking player pulling away on a breakaway, and Minnesota State didn't get a penalty shot! I've seen the Badgers have the same thing happen a few times this season, when a player past all the defenders got hooked, held, or slashed from behind, and no penalty shot. I don't have a copy of the NCAA D-I women's hockey rulebook...does anyone know what the deal is there? Is there some rule that the breakaway has to start from your own goal line or something?
