Part 2A in our series of posts about the potential for a referee apocalypse in the NHL. Do not fret, there will be no mentions of zombies or of that W sauce or even a hotline for said sauce. This is just a scenario that probably will not happen but you never know taken from real and fictional accounts. Keep this in mind along with a healthy sense of humor and it will all be just fine in the end.
Now the following taken right around just the present day of the NHL. There will be some real names mixed again with fictional ones. Do keep this in mind please.
February 12th, 2010
On the day before the Olympic Break, all was calm and all was bright. Terry Gregson was happy to see that there would be no more referee controversies for at least a few weeks. The Olympics were coming and there would be no NHL hockey until March. There was a happiness and a peace. Now truthfully there were games until the 14th but that did not matter. "What could possibly happen after the Olympic Break freeze?", Gregson thought aloud. The NHL is actually going to have a nice break and sure enough they would.
Mr. Gregson could be seen drinking at a bar in New York City with some friends. Again they were all talking about hockey. People you may know like Bill Daly, Colin Campbell, and even Gary Bettman were all there. It was something they did at least once or twice each month. The bartender knew them all by name and he was generously compensated for his good service and thankful for their patronage.
They exchanged ideas about how to make the officiating less controversial and they all had a hearty joke about Stephane Auger ever reffing in the playoffs and off they went. It was a good time had by all and honestly a good time in the NHL for a change with no black eyes broadcast ad nauseum on ESPN.
February 14th, 2010
So it was Valentine's Day. I am sure refs everywhere were making their wives happy and there were 6 games on the NHL schedule. All went without a major incident. With the Super Bowl over, the NHL on NBC could have made a killing but nope no NBC game. Podcasts everywhere were lamenting over this very fact but wishing hockey fans a good Olympics and surely when the NHL came back in March....it would be a true free for all.
Imagine a time in the NHL (circa before the 95 lockout) when things were more serene and it was hard to find one like this. There were several points after the Auger incident when the NHL could feel like this. There would also be several more.
March 1st, 2010
The Olympics went off great and Canada beat the USA for the Gold Medal. American fans really could not complain as Canada outplayed them badly in the third which was good enough for a 4-2 victory. Martin Brodeur made 30 saves in the win and Ryan Miller made 40 in the loss. The NHL refs that went up to Vancouver actually performed rather well. The Olympic Committee was happy not to have to put any major fires out. It was an outstanding tournament with Joe Thornton leading all scorers with what felt like 500 assists and 1 goal.
Even Detroit and Colorado went without incident the first night back. Kerry Fraser was the head official and everything went smoothly as the Wings scratched out a 3-2 win in OT over the Avalanche. It was an evenly called game with 5 PP's on each side and mostly after the first period, the players were allowed to play.
Stay tuned for the Part B of The Calm Before The Storm........
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