More on the SCSU non-goal.

Personally I think it’s funny that this argument has comes full circle. UND during their second game against SCSU earlier in the season had a legit and legal goal waved off by the officials, this non goal probably cost UND at least a tie in the game and possible points that may in the end cost them dearly. UND also had a blown call in Duluth where the puck actually hit the net above the glass and then came back on to the playing surface and was shot into the UND net. That blown call cost UND a series sweep and points that would be very valuable to the Fighting Sioux that are now fighting for home ice in the WCHA playoffs.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, SCSU had another goal waved off and it cost them a game, it could cost them a place in the standings. I guess I am not feeling a lot of empathy for them. Two seasons ago there was a scandalous goal that should have counted but was waved off for SCSU. The Wisconsin Badgers also suffered the same fate again against DU. Through some coincidence those two blown calls ended up benefiting DU.

What can we do? We know Bob the refs in the WCHA suck and it’s isn’t going to change until member school grow some balls and convince their athletic directors, coaches and faculty reps to make some noise at the WCHA meetings. Until then the status quo will not change. I don’t feel any empathy for the SCSU Huskies, because my team has been on the short end of every call this season. Like Gandalf says every teams suffers from the refs except maybe DU.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said Wednesday that SCSU coach Bob Motzko's public reprimand for actions after Saturday's 6-4 loss at Colorado College will not include a fine. The league announced the public reprimand in a short news release late Tuesday afternoon. The reprimand stemmed from Motzko's heated confrontation with referee Brett Klozowski regarding a disputed non-goal call late in the game.

"I don't have anything to add," Motzko said after practice Wednesday. "I've already said everything I wanted to say."

That perhaps was a reference to a telephone conversation with WCHA Supervisor of Officials Greg Shepherd. Motzko also made the following comment to reporters Saturday: "We scored a goal. Everybody in the rink knows we scored a goal. There's nothing else to say."

McLeod said the league's code of conduct required a reprimand for such an incident.

"The reprimand is just that: A reprimand," McLeod said. "There's no further action. There is language in the code of conduct where there can be additional steps taken if there's a repeat offense. Then we could get into other things."

WCHA coaches are subject to a fine of $1,000 for making comments in the media critical of officiating. And, in some cases, schools have taken action against their own coaches for their actions at games. The most recent example came a year ago when Denver University suspended George Gwozdecky for his infamous walk across the ice to protest a call in a game at North Dakota.

First we have to correct this inaccuracy. Gwozdecky was suspended by the WCHA after he was kicked out of the game and got caught cheating, after leaving the bench area Gwozdecky went to the press box and was communicating with the DU bench. The league did not suspend him for showing up and berating the officials.

This didn't rise to that level. After Aaron Marvin appeared to tie Saturday's game at 5-5 with about 1:30 remaining, Klozowski waved off the goal. The Tigers added an empty-netter, and the two points at stake meant the difference between being tied for first and in third place in the WCHA entering this weekend's home series with Alaska Anchorage. Even had they finished in a tie, the one-point boost would've put the Huskies in a tie for second, one point back of first-place Denver.

Huskies athletic director Morris Kurtz said Wednesday the matter is resolved and there will be no internal discipline of Motzko by SCSU.

McLeod said Shepherd has spoken with Klozowski about the incident, but there will be no discipline for the referee. Klozowski is in his second year working WCHA games. He did not referee any postseason games last spring. Previously, he worked several seasons in the CCHA.

"You can argue whether the call should be made or not made," McLeod said. "If you look at the replay, (Klozowski) is as close to the play as can be. He lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle. That's it. the play is dead. There's even latitude in the rule book where as soon as a referee intends to blow the whistle, the play is over. Let's say, for instance, he's prevented from raising his hand with the whistle. Once he determines to blow it, it's all over."

Shepherd said he had not previously had any complaints about Klozowski, and that his positioning and action during the play was correct.

This statement is funny in so many ways; I am not sure how the head of the WCHA’s officials Greg Shepherd can make that comment with a straight face? Come one Greg well all know your officials aren’t up to par. This is where the member schools have got to step forward and demand change, because Shepherd doesn’t see a problem and their oblivious to the situation. From what I have gleamed this season is that a good part of the WCHA fan base is unhappy with the state of officiating in the WCHA. Nothing has changed; the same buffoons are still out screwing up calls in key parts of games, costing their favorite teams points. The only way the WCHA is going to discipline their officials is when they become to toxic to defend and or when they screw up so bad like Randy Schmidt did that they have to discipline/fire their on ice officials.

"He was where he was supposed to be," Shepherd said. "He loses sight of the puck, so he blew the whistle. What he did wrong was he should never have went to replay. You can never overturn a call once you blow the whistle. What he should've done was gone to the (SCSU) bench and told Bob he lost sight of it and gone back out and dropped the puck. His job is to explain the situation and go from there. If he'd done that, we might've avoided what happened after the game."

Shepherd confirmed what McLeod said in that the NCAA adopted an NHL rule two years ago that allows officials to call a play dead even based on the intent of blowing the whistle.

"If you look at the replay, (Klozowski) has brought his whistle to his mouth and the puck isn't in the net yet," Shepherd said. "A CC guy pushed a St. Cloud guy into the net. When that happens and you can't see the puck, we tell our guys 'Bang!' They should hit the whistle right now. You don't want someone crashing into the goalie." [Saint Cloud Times]