Tonight marks the last game for HORIZON before they head to the summer '05 playoffs. To this date, the entertainment crew is 12-6-1, good for 25 points. Now onto the bad news. In a recent game against the Faulker Fury, Horizon goalie Dennis Daughtery was injured due to what may have been a stick to the back of his neck. Dennis is currently in a neck brace and has been diagnosed with a bruised spine, and will be out for the remander of the season including playoffs. Former Bud Light goalie Steve the cop will be filling in. Brandon Reidy was involved in fistacuffs with a member of the Fury team, landing him a four-game suspension. By all accounts, Reidy won. Tonight Horizon takes on Monte Carlo Pizza, in an important game for playoff seeding. Horizon will either face this Monte Carlo team, or the Fury team depending on the outcome of this game. Horizon lost to Monte Carlo 5-4, in an earlier game this season.
Now I know this isn't a forum for me to talk smack on the twin ponds hockey league. This webpage isn't exactly the Jim Rome Show. But regardless of this, I feel there have been some injustices that Horizon has faced as a team. So without anymore introduction, let the smack talk begin! :
I have come to the conculsion that the referees in this league are biased. Heres my story: Derek Weikel, Horizons penalty minute leader and second in points, skated behind the opposing teams net, chasing down a puck. Behind the neck he was checked by a member of the opposing team, and sent crashing into the ice and goal posts. No call by the referees. Seconds later, the puck was in the corner when Derek collided into the same person. However this person did not go crashing into the ice or even lose balance. But alas, the whistle blew, and Derek was sent to the box with a two minute penalty. Regardless of his reputation (if he even has one) the first hit should of been a penalty because it was a reckless hit behind the net.
Same game. The team we were facing was losing, so they did what any hockey team does, pull the goalie for an extra attacker. Well before their goalie gets to the bench, the extra attacker touches the puck, which should be a whistled for a two minute bench minor. Well the referees, in their infinite wisdom, called the infraction a "illeagal substitution," which he claimed warrented no penalty. We were pissed! You see, the game before this one, we had the same thing happen to us. However our goalie was inside the bench before the extra attacker touched the puck. We were losing 5 - 4 and the extra attacker could of made the difference between one point and no points. The referees, evoking their right of devine rule, judged that we should send a man to the box for the two minute bench minor. The game was lost.
Now I realize this sounds like bitching and whining. And i'll agree with you. I'm bitching, and i'm whining. But you know, sometimes thats the only way things can get done. And I also realize that to call a two minute penalty against a team that was losing 4 - 1 with a minute left to play may be stupid, but the referees should be forced to call the game the same way every time. This isn't just a problem in adult rec leagues, it's a problem at every level of the sport. Until the refereeing in hockey gets better, you will still see the cluch and grab. You will still see players get sucker punched and driven to the ice because the refs didn't make a call earlier in the game. These rules that make hockey a game must be called uniformally and must stay the same throughout the season and playoffs.
