EDMONTON GETS BURNED BY SHODDY REFFING

So the Edmonton Oilers played a game last night vs. the Los Angeles Kings. The Refs blew at least 4-5 calls that should’ve resulted in Oilers power plays. Instead, the Kings got calls that were of the same type that the Oilers should have had.

Oilers head Coach Tom Renney got fined $10,000.00 for commenting that the League needs Hollywood in the play-offs. That was all he said and for that it cost him $10K.

I would like to go on record and say two things. One…Tom Renney’s comment about the NHL needing Hollywood in the play-offs was at best, a snide remark. It was not what I would consider “going off” on the inconsistent and blatant disregard for the rule book that we all witnessed last night. I have never seen a Head Coach get fined more than the $10,000.00 so Renney should’ve let the punishment fit the crime. If it were me, I would’ve bbeen a lot more harsh than he was. I would’ve let fly on the Ref’s calls in the game, the training that is obviously required, the fact that there is instant replay from every angle imanginable, and that a play-off contending team was obviously favored by the the officials last night.

The lack of emotion from Renney in his remark, shows me that there really is no care left in a Coach that does not have a contract extension for next season. I mean, what would’ve been the harm, with two games left in a 29th placed season, that he could’ve and should’ve let it all hang out if he was pissed about the officiating! Unless it really didn’t bother him that much and then the fine just goes to show that he made another bad decision. I will not get into the decisions he made with the line combinations here or the fact that Omark sat again, what I will say is that I expected better.

The second thing I want to say about this issue is this…if Coaches can get fined, Players can get suspended / fined, and discipline for infractions seems to be handed out at random with no real consistency where suspensions are concerned, why is it that Referees cannot be fined or suspended? I get that they lose some games, especially when it comes to play-offs. But, I would like to see some sort of procedure made public on the process for which Teams can protest the officciating on any given night. If there is such a process already, then how come we never hear about Teams using it?

With the Anaheim Ducks in Edmonton on Thursday, I am going out on a limb and saying that the officiating will be more balanced as there are no play-off implications in this game. However, for the final game on Saturday against the Canucks…I will bet you a Tim Horton’s double double, that we will see that the Canucks are favored in the calls made on the ice.

A brief statement about the game last night…needless to say that it seems like the only Oilers player that showed up was Devan Dubnyk. I understand that he is playing for a contract and a number one spot on this team moving forward but, this team definitely needs more heart than we saw last night! Two games left be damned, play for pride. I want a good draft pick like everyone else, but this team has tried and failed this year anyways, why not now? The Oilers are in basement of the standings for a reason and in isn’t because they’ve taked it all year!

The officiating was not the reason The Oilers lost. If you don’t score, you cant win. And with only 19 shots on net and Johnathan Quick stealing games for the Kings…you have no hope if you’re not peppering the net with rubber.

In the mean time between games, let me just say this SUCK IT REFS.

Go Oilers Go!

P.S. I wrote this from my IPad with my new keyboard just to try it out. I can not use the IPad in the same way as a computer in the editor, so I apologize if there are spelling errors etc…