Last night, was an interesting night of college hockey in the WCHA, to say the least. Three out of four games went to overtime with the fourth game coming close.
Two of the three games ended in a tie. Bemidji State squandered a 4-1 lead and lost 5-4 in overtime to the Michigan Tech Huskies. Here's what the Beavers head coach Tom Serratore had to say about last night's game.
“It’s a tough loss, it’s a demoralizing loss,” BSU head coach Tom Serratore said. “I’d be lying if I said any different. I feel bad for our fans. We had a lead right there and had a meltdown. They converted on a couple power-play goals there, and they basically outworked our penalty kill. And that’s all you can say right there.” [Jack Hittinger, Bemidji Pioneer]
Out in the west, a fight broke out at the end of last night’s game between the
Colorado College Tigers and Denver Pioneers last night. Pioneers sophomore goalie Jussi Olkinuora (game disqualification for fighting) and Tigers senior center Rylan Schwartz (disqualification for contact to head) will miss game two tonight in Denver as a result of their one game disqualification’s.
There were also some controversial calls as well, I will put links to the video to let you decide if the ref made the right call or not.
I can say with complete confidence that the officiating crew of Todd Anderson and Brad Shepherd was absolutely brutal last nigth, you've have to think that there is no way these two officials could do any worse. We will see tonight.
But I digress.
The good thing for both teams is that the on ice officials were consistently bad for both sides, so I wouldn’t blame the officials for the result of last night’s game. Bad officiating is just one aspect that the teams have to make adjustments for and both UMD and UND did that.
Not to beat a dead horse but the men in stripes in other games had a tough night as well, as you will be able to see from some of the examples that I have posted here.
UND freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi was checked into the boards by UMD forward Justin Crandall. [
Click to view video] There was no call on the play; I think that’s the wrong call, but not surprising based on who was reffing this game. Grimaldi was in a vulnerable position and Crandall drove him into the boards while he was facing the boards.
Grimaldi would go down the tunnel and return to the bench a short time later. I think this hit is just as bad as the one that Jordan Schmaltz put on Saint Cloud State Huskies forward Drew Leblanc last weekend that cost Schmaltz a game misconduct. I think the refs need to be more consistent with their calling of the games.
Here is the video of a hit that UND senior defenseman Andrew MacWilliam put on UMD Bulldog freshman forward Tony Cameranesi. Apparently,
UMD Bulldog radio announcer Bruce Ciskie had originally took issue with the MacWilliam hit but later changed his mind. In this case I think the on ice officials made the right call. [
click to view]
Here is one from the weak call department – Wisconsin’s Joseph LaBate's checked on Minnesota's Erik while it was technically a check from behind, it shouldn’t have been more than a 2 minute minor in my opinion. I also don’t blame Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves for being upset with this call. What do you think?
[click to view]
Asked if he thought the major penalties were warranted, Eaves responded by saying he’d asked to speak with Greg Shepherd, the WCHA supervisor of officials. They did meet in a nearby hallway for roughly 5 minutes, Eaves’ exasperated voice easy to hear [Andy Baggot, Madison.com].
Here is a hit from the ref made the right call department. Wisconsin Badgers forward Tyler Barnes hits Tom Serratore in the head. [
Click to view] Barnes was given a five minute major and a game misconduct.
Originally posted at
the Hockey Writers – Combine.
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