It’s the playoffs, so everyone must be mad about the officiating. But this year, we seem to be extra mad. Whether it’s phantom calls, missed infractions or the dreaded game management, nobody’s happy with the job the referees are doing. Based on what fans are saying, the officials are somehow biased against all the teams at the same time. Nobody knows what to expect on any given night, the same play gets a different call from one period to the next, and none of it makes sense.
And everyone knows the answer: Just call the rulebook.
That’s what you’re all saying. And I hear you. Calls the rules as written, and the problem goes away. Maybe not immediately, but eventually players will adjust, and the game will be better for it. Just call the rulebook, and while we’re still have penalties and even controversies, at least we’ll know what to expect when we sit down to watch a game.
Call the rulebook. Got it. Only… do you know what’s in the rulebook?
Not many of us do, and on a lot of nights that seems to include the NHL officiating crew. So let’s find out what’s actually in there. I’ve put together a 16-question quiz, one for every playoff team that thinks the refs are out to get them this year. It will test your knowledge of just what is and isn’t included in this critically important 200-page document that nobody seems to have ever read.
Fair warning: It’s going to get weird. As always, if you’ve been reading my stuff over the years then you’ll be at an advantage, because you’re clearly smarter than everyone else you’ll have seen some of the scenarios before. But either way, I’m willing to bet that you’ll learn something.
All questions are based on a literal reading of the 2020-21 rulebook, which the league provides for free from their web site. Take your best shot at answering the questions, then scroll back up and check the table to see how you did.
0 correct: The organist plays Three Blind Mice whenever you take the ice.
1 – 3 correct: The fans chant “ref you suck” at you before the game even starts.
4 – 7 correct: You’re as reliable as an NHL referee’s microphone.
8 – 11 correct: That seems good but we’ll have to do a tedious 10-minute replay review to be sure.
12 – 14 correct: Please get on a plane to Tampa, we need you tonight.
15 correct: You only missed one, but DGB will still be writing whiny posts about it for the next 28 years.
16 correct: You appear to have cheated in a quiz about enforcing the rules, which is actually kind of admirable.
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