Interacting with On-Ice Officials in Adult League

[jebaxter 0]

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[MN old and slow 92]

I say nothing and simply keep playing. Fast game bad calls will be made. Bad calls are part of the game. Beer leauge or aduly tourney refs are not highly paid so we cannot drive them all away.

[jebaxter 0]

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[Krev 86]

I disagree with both of you. I'm both a player and an official, so when things go sideways in a game I'm playing in it is extremely frustrating to see. Our referees out here get paid $50/game for all Adult games across all leagues. For that kind of money, I expect you to actually do a decent job controlling the game. If you're going to make bad calls, consistently make them. If you're going to be invisible you can expect hell to break loose and don't be surprised when it happens in an A league game. Referees are the only people who are paid to be on the ice, and they should act like it.

[tareatingrat 4]

I had a long response ready to go, but it's summed up as this: I really don't like the majority of referees. Too much powertripping.

Either don't talk to them at all, or, as is usually my style if they're awful: Do nothing but let them know how shitty they are. If you're gonna ruin my game, I'm gonna do my best to ruin your night. Penalties/suspensions be damned.

I'm not too sure of many other jobs where you can be terrible and still get paid. With no oversight, what's the incentive to not be terrible?

And:

Referees are the only people who are paid to be on the ice, and they should act like it.

Quoted for truth.

[watchgreat 4]

Im an official and around me the rate is normally about $50 a game which is some good money. Most officials really don't take mens league seriously and that's the problem. I honestly think that saying anything to them will not change a thing because that's just the way a lot of guys are. If you really feel the need to say something I would approach the official respectfully and just explain your concerns in a normal tone and don't try to "B**** him out" so to speak. That is most likely your best bet. Just my 2 cents for what its worth.

[niXon 4]

I had a long response ready to go, but it's summed up as this: I really don't like the majority of referees. Too much powertripping.

Either don't talk to them at all, or, as is usually my style if they're awful: Do nothing but let them know how shitty they are. If you're gonna ruin my game, I'm gonna do my best to ruin your night. Penalties/suspensions be damned.

I'm not too sure of many other jobs where you can be terrible and still get paid. With no oversight, what's the incentive to not be terrible?

And:

Quoted for truth.

As an official, your "style" is the worst approach. Much like yourself, officials are human and make mistakes. What makes a good ref is the ability to take ownership of the call. A huge benefit for me is that I'm approachable. You want to ask me about a call or get clarification? Sure, no problem. Approach me in a respectful manner and I'll talk to you all night. Wanna act like a child and I'll politely let you know that I don't need to explain my call to you and you can send a letter over. One thing I think some players fail to realize is that much like yourself we are amateurs. I am by no means a professional so I'm going to make mistakes. It's part of the game.

With that said, I pride myself on my ability to be engaged with players and bust my ass out there to ensure I see everything. Like others have said, I get paid to be out there so I take it seriously.

[IPv6Freely 2096]

^ Thats the key. Taking ownership of a call or missed call. Most of the time, a simple "sorry, I didnt see it" is all it takes to calm down an angry player who just got tripped/highsticked/etc. I might still be angry, but at that point the subject gets dropped. Ignoring me will just cause frustration to build.

Also, the worst thing a ref can do is to talk back rudely. Unfortunately it happens quite a bit in lower leagues.

[MN old and slow 92]

We were taught to "own" our play and not worry about refs. We can not react to a mistake by the ref or even an on ice mistake by us as a player. Coaches and captains can question the calls, The rest of us need to simply shut up play on. Never wore the A or C. Refs cannot have 12 men asking them a question. This is how we were taught growing up in the 60s.

[chippa13 1844]

There is nothing wrong with a quick question/comment between whistles or periods. Most of the time it can be a simple "keep an eye on ##," or the like. Making it the worst night of a refs life doesn't help anyone and usually hurts your team.

[badger_14 601]

I have somehow not been penalized in 6 years of playing... (knock wood?) but we play with a running clock, so it kind of feels like, why waste time arguing? Might as well just get on with the game. Our league seems to have the same bunch of refs rotating games, and there aren't a lot of penalties called generally, but it doesn't seem like people mind a whole lot. I don't think I've seen many bad penalties called, or anything hugely blatant not called. Running clock, live with it, keep playing, complain to your teammates while stuck in the box.

[Chadd 916]

Another player/ref here, I usually get away with a bunch of stuff that isn't called, so even a bad call against me still leaves me ahead in the grand scheme of things. I know most of the refs and know what will work with most of them. With some, there is nothing that is going to help. With the decent guys, you can talk to them calmly on the way to the box. Something like, "Just before my penalty, (insert number) got me with a good slash/chop/hack/etc..." or "(insert number) is getting pretty frisky with the stick, can you keep an eye on him?"

The Keys:

Don't dispute the call - you just back them into a corner and they could get defensive

Don't yell

Don't throw your stick

Talk to them like a normal human

Don't say "you missed..." - you tell them what they missed (in your opinion) but never used the word missed (or blown or screwed up or...)

Even guys at the NHL level make mistakes and none of the guys doing a beer league game are NHL level officials

I had a very experienced ref doing one of our games last season. It's really rare to have someone at that level do our beer league games, so it was a bonus for us. At one point I'm forechecking and turn to follow play. An opposing player was three feet away, catches an edge and does a face plant on the ice. The whistle blows and I get called for a penalty. Naturally, I just started laughing. On my way to the box I told the guy that I wasn't within two feet of the player and describe what happened. I then followed it up with "I can see how it might have looked bad from your angle, though." That really is important to remember; they don't call what you do, they call what it looks like you do. Depending on the angle, a harmless play can look like a penalty and a penalty can look like nothing.

[strosedefence34 175]

In our league the refs will not hesitate to throw you out if you're pissing them off.

[hunt3rsean 44]

I'm not sure why it's so hard for some players to keep their cool when talking to ref's in beer/rec league games. It's beer league! Yes, a bad call can put your team in a tough spot, but these guys are human. And the majority only ref at the rec league level. You can't expect NHL caliber ref quality. You can want it....but don't expect it.

I generally do not interact with the referees at all. I'm a big fan of "play through the calls" and not bitching. I understand my yelling at a ref is not going to change the call and it will only come back negatively. The only times I'll talk with a referee is usually between periods or if something major was missed. There are a couple guys in my league that are notorious slashers. And they slash hard like they're trying to split wood at the farm. If one of these guys is getting out of hand in a game and it's not getting called I'll stop and talk with one of the referees about it. Usually, it's not much more then "Hey, number ## is acting like a lumber jack. Usually its behind the play or in the corners can you please keep an eye out?" Most of our refs will acknowledge the statement and say "I'll have to call it both ways." Which is fine. I hope they do call it both ways.

I think missed calls or a ref who tends to be 'ticky tacky' are things that, as a player, you can adapt to and get around. Now, that ticky tacky call late in the 3rd and the score is tied. . . .those are definitely frustrating, but the ref is not going to reverse the call. So accept it and work your ass off to kill the penalty.

Overall, our refs are willing to talk with you but definitely do not take any crap. The league GM has given the okay to the refs to eject players for abusing officials verbally (and of course physically....which I have yet to see happen). So they are pretty quick to give the 10 and then eject the player if he doesn't calm down. I have zero problem with this. It's rec league.

But like a few others have said. . .when the one or two refs come down from a higher level league (for us it's WHL) it's so nice. We have one who, not only is he a great ref, he's an awesome dude. Friendly and will generally joke with you one the ice in between whistles. I like those types of guys a lot.

[IPv6Freely 2096]

Friendly and will generally joke with you one the ice in between whistles. I like those types of guys a lot.

I wish they were all like this. It's amazing how quickly a situation can be diffused when the ref communicates well. It's the ones that ignore every word regardless of what you're saying (including asking for clarification etc). Those guys drive me nuts the worst.

Only thing worse than that is an abusive ref (be it verbally or just being a dick in general).

[flaming_june 2]

One of my teammates said it best, you're playing the other team, not the refs. However learning gamesmenship with the refs can be influential. Ive been a minor and tourney ref as well as current beer league ref, most if not all interactions with players during the game is of players actually venting instead of inquiring. I very much like when players show me calmly the evidence of a missed high stick, since I have two fake front teeth from missed high stick.

However, most dont know the rules anyways so refs may not be willing to hear you out. This is especially true since hockey canada rules specifically says only team captain on the ice at the time has the priv of asking for an explanation, and forgo their priv of asking if they commit the pen. But beer league is always looser and I'm always happy to explain the call given it doesnt waste gametime and the player is actually asking and not venting. As I said before, during the game it's usually not tbe case.

[chk hrd 164]

Treat them like humans. BS with them before the game and during. If something keeps happening that they don't see just mention it, but don't go off. Bad call, try to skate away. In all my years in hockey I've never seen a ref reverse a call plus it looks like your challenging his authority.as tough as it sounds let them know if they made a good call even if was on you. I also like to tell them good game or thanks even if i don't mean it, ive even appologized to them when i thought they made a bad call but they were right. You see the same bunch of refs all season so it doesn't hurt to try and keep on the civil side. I know refs who are already looking at certain players before the puck drops just because of their history.....Now if I could follow my own advice every game I would be okay.

[strosedefence34 175]

ironically enough last night the ref had a quick whistle he was just above the goal line on the same side the puck was on and it was loose and he whistled the play dead as I was about to poke the puck in the empty net for a goal. In the moment I yelled "the puck was loose" I think he immediately expected me to yell at him some more and he acknowledged he made a bad call. I told him " its ok I will give you crap in the moment about it, but really its just mens league hockey". He told me he appreciated it and that 90% of people don't see it that way. I was talking to my other buddy who refs and he says he will take crap from high school and college players and coaches because they are playing for something. He said he does not take crap from mens league and he will not think twice about throwing someone out.

[Jason Harris 31]

It's. Just. A. Game.

[Chadd 916]

I wish they were all like this. It's amazing how quickly a situation can be diffused when the ref communicates well. It's the ones that ignore every word regardless of what you're saying (including asking for clarification etc). Those guys drive me nuts the worst. Only thing worse than that is an abusive ref (be it verbally or just being a dick in general).

I had a "communication resolution" the other night. Behind the play I hear a stick to stick sound and by the time I turned around, there was a stick sliding across the ice. I remembered the number and stopped at the bench at the next whistle (goal against that team). I went over to the guy and said, "I don't see what happened to piss you off, but I know you got even with him. Everything good now?" Someone mentioned that the other guy got him knee on knee and I told them I would keep an eye out for it., then went and dropped the puck. Other than having a partner that didn't think anything should be called a penalty, it was a good game.

ironically enough last night the ref had a quick whistle he was just above the goal line on the same side the puck was on and it was loose and he whistled the play dead as I was about to poke the puck in the empty net for a goal. In the moment I yelled "the puck was loose" I think he immediately expected me to yell at him some more and he acknowledged he made a bad call. I told him " its ok I will give you crap in the moment about it, but really its just mens league hockey". He told me he appreciated it and that 90% of people don't see it that way. I was talking to my other buddy who refs and he says he will take crap from high school and college players and coaches because they are playing for something. He said he does not take crap from mens league and he will not think twice about throwing someone out.

As a player or ref, I would rather have a quick whistle than see a goalie get hurt from a cheap shot. As long as the ref is in good position, it doesn't bother me. As a ref, you know you're going to take some heat for it. Count to 5 and then explain it, move to warning and penalties f the abuse continues. At least, that's my policy.

[IPv6Freely 2096]

^ See, that's exactly it. "Sorry, I had lost sight of it for a second there" is all it would take to diffuse the situation completely. A ref certainly doesn't have to say he was wrong necessarily, but just state what he saw. Its amazing how simple of a concept that is, and yet how many lower level refs don't get it. (Which is why they're lower level, I guess...)

[Chadd 916]

I was following the puck, it was way behind the play.

A lot of upper level guys in this area don't get it either

[mcawesome 1]

I'm usually the guy who is drawing the penalties, so I don't have much of a problem with the refs calling anything on me. Luckily, I've never been called for diving, ha

[Sniper9 535]

i don't think I have ever received a penalty I didn't deserve. With that said, I have been blatantly hooked while carrying the puck a number of times, and nothing was called. I never really beak at the ref, as it won't change the fact that they missed/didn't make the call in the first place. The more you bitch at a referee, the more incentive it gives them to screw you, and your team over. I have played with teammates that lose their cool and start acting like total idiots, and it makes not only their team look bad, it makes them look like a clown.

Why would you ever question a referee on a missed call. He either didn't see it, or didn't think it was a penalty. You aren't going to get the answer you like, regardless. The only time I talk to the ref is to question calls where 2 players were involved, and only one player got a penalty, or scrums after the play where I remind the referee that if penalties aren't handed out, things will get out of control.

[Apes44 7]

you forgot the 3rd option, they flat out dont care and are there to collect the $

Why would you ever question a referee on a missed call. He either didn't see it, or didn't think it was a penalty. You aren't going to get the answer you like, regardless.