Referee Apocalypse: Does The Calm Continue?

The eye.....oh my.

When we last left you in our expose that combined fact and fiction....it was early March and the players were coming back from the Olympic Break. Like I said before, the Olympics was a rousing success even with the snow issues. No hotels were destroyed at all which is always good. However, coming back, you had to think with just six weeks left in the season that something was going to happen that would change things.

But all was good the first week back in the NHL. Sure there were some slightly questionable hits but nothing that would bring a referee's integrity into question. NHL ratings were up even on NBC and Versus was also reporting record ratings. Yes they were a far cry from other sports but for the NHL, there was almost a feeling of happiness and peace. Even refs like Tim Peel and Stephane Auger faded into the background. All was not perfect but it was better than could be expected.

There was even a humorous incident of a blizzard on the East Coast where the games went on but some refs had to be rescued from a snowed in Prudential Center after snow drifts caused the doors to be jammed with snow. Imagine the comic relief of refs not being able to make a decision on how to get out of a situation. I guess two feet of snow will do that. Did I mention they had no power too? For some, it had to feel like the brownout during the Tampa Bay-New Jersey game earlier in the season.

I can still imagine the refs drawing straws to see who has to explain that one to the press and the NHL. Colin Campbell was half tempted to suspend them for stupidity but that would have made too much sense. After all, Colin Campbell cannot make a correct decision at times if his life depended on it. Terry Gregson is a little bit better at that sort of thing. The irony that the Director Of Officiating is infinitely more intelligent at times than the Discipline Czar does not surprise much of anyone.

However, you could feel the cold winds of change coming. Not just yet for there was a regular season to play out. The Washington Capitals would go on to take the President's Trophy by 3 points over the Chicago Blackhawks while the Blackhawks held off the San Jose Sharks by just a point in the tight Western Conference. Anaheim rode a hot stretch behind Jonas Hiller to a 95 point finish and that was just enough for the 8 seed in the West. The other division winners were New Jersey, Buffalo, and Vancouver and not really all that surprising to be honest.

Referee assignments were announced for the playoffs and the first surprise hit. Tim Peel and Stephane Auger would be paired together in a Vancouver-Colorado series. The NHL insisted it was a total accident and that was how the assignments ran but no one in the media really believed it. What is funny is the fact that this may have turned out to be the best reffed series of the first round.

Other first round matchups went quietly and without controversy as well. Six of the eight series went the distance with 3 happening on one night and 2 going into at least double OT. The NHL had everything it could ask for including another Washington-Pittsburgh series, in Round 2 this time. Gary Bettman was so pumped that people thought he had a constant wet spot on his pants. You could feel something was in the air and maybe the greatest postseason of all hockey time was just ready to get truly cranked up.

That was about the time when the second round was to begin. Something kept not feeling right. What was it? No one really knew or had any clue of what was about to happen. What was certain is that the eye of the storm feeling would have a whole new meaning but some in the media even suggested overhyping Pittsburgh and Washington would let another series sneak under the radar and maybe for all the wrong reasons.

Stay tuned to see what happens next.......