I Hate Refs

There, I said it. I try to never bash the referees or linesmen when they make mistakes but after the game last night, I feel the need to. The Islanders were robbed on two occasions: the first one was Tim Connolly's hit from behind on Alexei Yashin. The second one was the phantom tripping call on Randy Robitaille near the end of the game. Fans literally, well, littered, the ice to show their displeasure and the game was stopped so that the coliseum crew could clean up the debris.

Now I am not one to condone throwing anything on the ice but I know why the fans did what they did and I am going to explain it really slowly in case some zebras are reading this entry: you made a horsesheet call on Robitaille. Replays showed that Randy didn't even touch anyone on the Sabres. Add to that the fact that Campoli had been tugged down on a rush earlier with no call made it tough to stomach. Richard Zednik was in the box on a legitimate penalty but Robitaille had done nothing.

Here's the explanation: Islanders fans all over the world are tired of being screwed. This team is an exponentially likeable and hardworking team that has made every break for themselves all year long. Yes, it took a while for fans to fully embrace the team but you know, it takes a while for a dog that has been kicked all it's life to come around and recognize that things have changed. He still is going to cringe and he still is going to react angrily and with rage when he thinks something bad (and out of his hands) is going on. It's called injustice...and it is hard times. After taking six minutes in penalties (four for Tom Poti for drawing blood on a high stick and two to his partner, Marc Andre Bergeron) on the same play, you will forgive the fans if they've seen this before because the team has been it's own worst enemy at times over the past couple of decades. They just want to win on an even playing surface. It makes this beaten dog wonder if the Islanders are not getting calls because the league and the officiating crew do not respect the Islanders like they respect the Sabres. There is probably some merit in that assertion.

For the missed call on Yashin, you have to wonder about Tim Connolly. I mean, the guy has missed all sorts of time with post-concussion syndrome and yet he leveled a guy from behind with his head down and of course, you got no call. I don't know if the ref was huffing gas between periods or maybe one of the Ice Girls spurned his advances but there is no way he could miss that call. The puck was right there at Yashin's feet. The ref was a few feet behind the play. Connolly had a couple of strides before he hit him. It was the prefect storm of penalty calls. And yet, there was no call. Even Eddie Olzcyk on Versus was shocked and I'm not sure he was paying attention to the game during some of it!

Which leads us to the man done wrong, Alexei Yashin. Wow. Quick--name a captain in the NHL that can play a quieter ten minutes than Alexei Yashin. You can't do it. If at this point in his career Yashin feels that he is a fourth-liner, then that is what he is. Aside from salary, there is Yashin's ability. He's shown flashes of tenacity and flashes of a scoring touch but if the guy had half of Andy Hilbert's Want To, he'd be off the charts. But he doesn't and he isn't...so Alexei Yashin is what he is.

So now the Isles are down 2 games to 1 in the best of seven series. Last night was the best chance that the team had to put their stamp on the playoffs and after the first period, you had to like their chances. The ice was tilted toward Sabres goalie Ryan Miller and the mask he got waffled on two separate occasions. DiPietro played well but didn't have to play out of this worldly like he did in game 2. The Isles totally took it to the Sabres and dictated the tempo of the game for most of it. Two crappy penalties and some other no-calls and the whole thing is a miscarriage of justice.