Discipline

Dean Brown gets on the Call The Fucking Rulebook bandwagon, albeit at a higher level.

Leafs Lose, All Is Right With The World

You know what I thought the highlight of Saturday night was? In the second. The hometown Leafs fans started a "Go Leafs Go" chant -- and it got drowned out by a "Go Sens Go" chant.

The other random thought I had was that the hometown Leafs fans really gave the team that home-style welcome, right down to booing them in the third.

Classy.

Overall I thought that Ottawa deserved to win. Maybe Toronto didn't deserve to get shut out, but more than a goal would have been flattering to both the Leaf effort and discipline. Both Khadri and Kessel whiffed on open net opportunities, but that's what happens to most players most of the time.

For once it wasn't Ottawa making stupid defensive lapses. For once it wasn't Ottawa making turnovers on botched outlet passes. For once it wasn't the LeClaire facing odd-man rushes.

Fisher was on, collecting two pretty goals, an assist on Kovalev's marker, plus a post.

It wasn't the prettiest game, but at least the hometown Leafs fans were shut up a bit, and that's never a bad thing.

6th Sens Contest Entry

The contest, such that it is, is here.

I won't win, but I might get a cheap laugh for being one of the first.

The picture is described:

Erik Karlsson’s death stare. After Pittsburgh cheap shot specialist Matt Cooke was sent to the penalty box for running the Ottawa defenceman into the glass from behind with a late hit, Karlsson fixed his evil eye across the ice surface and pointed a threatening finger at his attacker. It was a bit like a chipmunk trying to intimidate a weasel, but kudos to the kid for sticking up for himself.

Update, 10 seconds later: Turns out I've been misspelling Erik's first name this whole time. How typical humiliating.

Profit

Sens Plan To Jack Up Price

Ottawa's favourite hockey team plans to raise ticket prices on premium games. The closer it is to game day, the higher the cost will be for some of the seats.

...and this predictably drags out the boo-birds who declare this as nothing less than unadulterated greed.

What I don't get is why these "fans" think it is OK for a third party to buy a ticket from the Senators for some price, then sell it at a higher price, pocketing the difference. That ticket still sells for the higher price. Why should that profit not go to the team for providing the entertainment?

The problem for these "fans" isn't that the Senators want to raise prices. The problem for these "fans" is that someone is willing to pay more than they are. And the team just wants an increased cut of that money.

This is basic economics, people. If someone is willing to buy a particular ticket for $300, why on earth should the team sell it for $200?

And if the team raises prices beyond the willingness of their market to pay, then they'll end up with less-than-sold-out games, and at that point they'll have to reconsider.

Refs Try To Give Toronto A Win, Leafs Can't Take It

I'm still angry about Tuesday night.

Tuesday I watched most of the game between the Leafs and the Senators. Overall I thought the Leafs skated better and and made the Senators run around in their own end, but stand-up play from Elliot and no small amount of bad luck on the Leaf's part meant that the Senators ended up winning.

But what has me angry is the just plain flat out BAD officiating that happened in that game:

• Fisher wasn't hooked. Officials have let FAR worse go FAR more regularly, and to suddenly call something like that is to raise the level of inconsistency.
• Both refs were far more interested in watching Phaneuf get up-ended on his ass than watching the goddamn puck. So even though the puck went under Kovalev, who went in the net, which is where the officials picked the puck up from after Phaneuf was helped off the ice play -- no call. Since there was no call on the ice, there was no call to overturn, and the cameras have not yet been fitted to Kovalev's ass, so -- no goal. WATCH THE GODDAMN PUCK, ITS YOUR JOB.
• The flurry of penalties at the end was more than a little ridiculous, considering worse had been ignored EARLIER IN THE PERIOD.
• That TOTALLY bogus "delay of game" penalty issued to Hale even though we could hear the puck HIT THE GLASS on the way out of the ice surface.

It felt by the end that the officials were trying very hard to give Toronto the win, but somehow the Leafs couldn't quite seal the deal.

That's not to say that the Leafs fans had nothing to complain about with regards to the reffing:

Similar slashes to the one called on Grabovski were let go, a trip on Beauchemin prior to Orr's dumb penalty was missed, and Mike Fisher interfering with Jean-Sebastien Giguere's right leg was not seen by any refs.

PPP (the author) is far more charitable to the officials that I am.

And this, I think, is what gets me. This kind of bad officiating is so run-of-the-mill that there is no serious mention of it. It is accepted that over the long haul, sometimes the refs will work for you and sometimes they will work against you and that's just considered part of the game.

Now I'm sure that because this is a fast-paced, high-pressure game where the players will push every boundary just a little bit further than they can that the refs are under enormous pressure to make split-second judgments. To get it right every time would be impossible. However I don't think they were even close on Tuesday night.