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| (above) WCHA referee Don Adam sends lawbreakers in Loiusville, Colorado to the penalty box |
From: Denver Post
by Mike Chambers
On the streets or inside an ice arena, excitement and drama seem to follow Don Adam, a genuine Front Range-raised cop. The WCHA hockey referee and Louisville police officer is one of the state's most versatile law-enforcement officers, often conducting his business in a heated college game between rivals or a civil dispute in the small city east of Boulder [read entire article].
by Mike Chambers
On the streets or inside an ice arena, excitement and drama seem to follow Don Adam, a genuine Front Range-raised cop. The WCHA hockey referee and Louisville police officer is one of the state's most versatile law-enforcement officers, often conducting his business in a heated college game between rivals or a civil dispute in the small city east of Boulder [read entire article].
15 comments:
Interesting article.
Its going to be interesting to see how the NCHC, Big Ten & WCHA handle the referee situation.
Personally, I'd like to see the NCHC go back to one ref, two linesmen.
Donny's not the best ref in the league, but he's not Todd Anderson, who is the worst.
Best WCHA ref is Marco Hunt. IMHO. Campion and Freisma are ok.
I still miss Scott Zelkin, who was the best college ref I've seen. Decisive, fair, always communicating on the the ice with the players.
Linesmen will probably not change much. For referees, expect to see many of the same names in many of the same markets. There are a finite number of people with the experience and the legs to work NCAA-D1 hockey, and having the clients reshuffle won't change the number of qualified contractors, especially with one rulebook being used accross all the leagues, save for a few very minor exceptions (overtime, etc).
Each major conference will have their "go to" people for sure, but it would not be surprising to see certain schedulers assign for multiple leagues (which already happens).
The WCHA will end up with the lesser referees and the Big Ten will probably end up with the better referees (basesd largely on geography). NCHC will have the unenviable position of competing with the B1G for the talent, unless the NCHC comes to the table with a superior pay structure.
The pecking order for assignment preference (and therefore quality of officials) west of Ohio will probably end up being B1G > NCHC > WCHA (just like, east of Ohio, a certain pecking order has established itself among Hockey East, Atlantic Hockey, and the ECAC).
The 1-2 system is on its way out accross the board. IIHF, USAH, ACHA, and NCAA are all moving closer and closer to having all assignments be 2-2. It frees up the skating lanes, provides for better sight lines, and enables a redundancy that helps ensure that the correct call is made and that more infractions are observed.
Yeah, two refs is really the only way. Two sets of eyes working together are more likely to get the call right than a single set.
Don Adam's major weakness is his communication skills, while someone like Derek Shepherd has communication as his strength.
as an add-on:
Butch Mousseaux is a pretty good ref and is an absolutely great guy off the ice. He seems to really enjoy being a ref.
I agree with anon 9:37. He may not be the worst ref but he is right there.
Butch communicates very well and a has a good eye when he's in the right place. He could be a better ref if he were to drop some weight. That would make him a a faster skater and he we not get caught behind the play.
I love Butch. Not exactly sure why. Other refs, like Andersen, seem to have an arrogant presence. Like "I am God". Butch just goes out and does his job without an ego.
Not sure how his technical skills match up, but I seem to yell at him the last out of all of them.
Fire them all and get new ones for the new conference! ^.^
Neat article, always nice to see that the refs are actually functioning members of society when I question it on game night.
That's pretty cool. I'd be interested to know what all those guys do outside of the rink - the penalty box guys as well. So now I can yell "ADAM YOU SUCK" all night long when he throws... say, Doremus.... in the box for barely checking a NoDak player. But at the same time, if I were to get pulled over by him, I'd say, "Oh Officer Adam - that was a fabulous game last weekend. Thank God you were working it.... great game, man. Good calls, fair, you let them play. Why can't all the refs be like you"??? I'd butter him all up and he'd let me off with a warning I bet lol
Yoou bet wrong Anon 6:04
6:04 -
I know what most these guys do, however if I told you I would then have to kill you. And I don't want to have to kill you, so I will just keep you guessing. However, I will say that I hear all the off-ice guys (penalty boxes, goal judges, clock, video replay...) are all pretty damn successful.
:)
@ 1:30
If you think Butch is a bit slow, you should have seen this former ref Medo Martinello. He retired from being a ref in maybe '88 or '89, but his last few years he would be so far behind the play and was so slow that Butch would have skated circles around him. Medo is still a pretty respected guy, here's his wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medo_Martinello
Chambers article was reprinted over at www.hockeyrefs.com
Interesting site with some good articles.
http://www.hockeyrefs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1499:don-adam-balances-careers-as-hockey-referee-police-officer&catid=1:intheheadlines
Can Anderson be arrested for incompetency and stupidity????
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