Suck It Up and Embrace Awful Officiating

The only thing more annoying than a fan who constantly blames the officiating for the fate of his team is a constant apologist for zebra incompetence. Adam Proteau of The Hockey News is like the Gloria Allred for NHL referees, and he's rushed to their defense again after that egregiously blown too-many-men-on-the-ice call that led to Buffalo's game-winning goal against Philadelphia this week. Or, as Proteau calls the protesters, "all the sour apples who went nuclear":

At the risk of getting into ABC After School Special-territory, how difficult is it for people to understand that nobody's perfect, and because of that, there never will be an error-proof system for policing games? Have we not learned from Hockey Night In Canada host Ron McLean, a onetime serial ref-ripper, who, despite being a Level 5 referee himself, only truly understood the challenges officials face after the league allowed him to serve as a referee for a pre-season game in 2006?

Apparently, we haven't. And that's why I can guarantee you that in this spring's playoffs, there will be at least one "controversy" involving a blatant penalty that wasn't called, or a goal that was wrongly disallowed, or an illegal stick blade that wasn't immediately identified as such. It is as predictable as bulging eyes after a puck to the crotch, and if I'm sick to death imagine how nauseated the officials themselves must be.

Interesting analogy. Anyhoo, Proteau previously came to the defense of referee Mike Leggo during last year's playoffs, whose feeble performance in the Islanders/Sabres series kept him out of work for later rounds. I can find some common ground with one of Proteau's two main gripes, which involve the conspiratorial complaints from some fans (and general managers) that certain referees have it in for them. (I'll only plead guilty to this once, but that was because my coach told a referee to have another donut). But this "everybody makes mistakes" stuff doesn't fly when a referee can't even figure out how many players belong on the ice at a given moment in a game. Yes, it's a tough gig -- but there's no need to excuse that level of incompetence.