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Oops that should have been a goal


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Here is a letter that I sent to the head of officials for the WCHA

Dear Mr Sheppard,

I was woundering if the WCHA is going to install the new NHL rules. After watching hockey this past season I believe that the WCHA is falling behind the NHL and is in a way becoming hard to watch by there being too much obstruction, hooking and holding. Now would be a perfect time to install the new rules all the way and allow the high end talented teams to display their speed and offensive fire power.

Sincerely,

The Goon

Here is the response that I got

Goon,

It is not up to the WCHA about the rules Its up to all the coaches and the coaches are ok with the way the rules are written right now,will they change the who knows can we as officials do a better job maybe we will try. Thanks for your input. Greg Shepherd

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Here is a letter that I sent to the head of officials for the WCHA

Here is the response that I got

Wow...was Shepherd's reply written in English? If anyone knows how to translate that reply to English I would appreciate it. Goon...did you copy and paste his reply or is this paraphrased?

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Wow...was Shepherd's reply written in English? If anyone knows how to translate that reply to English I would appreciate it. Goon...did you copy and paste his reply or is this paraphrased?

I actually took it without editing it. I sent a copy to the Whistler last spring after I got it. It looks like he had been drinking when he wrote it.

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Mason and Schmidt?? I know Schmidt screwed up on a few goals that helped Denver, but how can you possibly put those 2 behind Campion and Robin Anderson? Adam is the undisputed worst official at any level, but Campion has had repeated complaints the past few years about his perceived bias. Remember the confrontation between Campion and the MSUM coaches after the UM v. MSUM game? Campion should be honest and wear his Gophers jersey when he's officiating. Robin Anderson is never in position, is horribly inconsistent from the beginning of the game to the end, and allows the interference and clutching and holding that the NHL eliminated. Even worse, he thinks he's part of the show. At least in my mind, Anderson is a close second to Adam. I actually like Randy Schmidt. Of course, the fact that he's a local guy (Fargo) may be affecting my judgment. We need ND officials to balance out the officiating crew, particularly after Mike Schmitt retired.

:D

I believe Robin Anderson retired and you're referring to Todd Anderson.

You're post does show to me that the problem is with league leadership and not with individual officials.

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I actually took it without editing it. I sent a copy to the Whistler last spring after I got it. It looks like he had been drinking when he wrote it.

He's a class act all the way. By the way anyone remember Greg Shepherd's officiating technique? I recall that he'd never call a (rough stuff) penalty until the other guy retaliated. Then he'd put both in the box for matching minors. Great way to encourage fighting if you ask me.

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A total housecleaning is impractical. With a stable full of new, untested officials, you could end up worse than where we are now. (Yes, that is possible.)

The officials are willing to call the games per the rules, but that may mean some up-front pain as teams and coaches and fans adapt to the tight calling style (the NCAA's "no obstruction allowed" or the NHL's "by the book, period"). And those officials, during that time, need clear support from their supervisor and the league. I'd say they are not getting that today, at least as far as "call it tight".

Hence, there is really only one option at this point:

... simply fire Greg Shepherd and replace him with a guy who actually has a plan to keep the officials accountable that goes beyond the simple wrist slapping, the apology letter, and the "buddy buddy" relationship mongering.

... And, of course, consistency will be the number one means of career endurance. ...

Anyways, replace the brain and keep most of the body and see how it acts.

As deeply as it pains me to say it, "redwing77" has this one right on.

One last note:

Consistency means not only team to team, but week to week, game to game, period to period, and shift to shift.

Set a standard, make it clear what it is, and stick to it.

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I disagree. For as much money as the WCHA is making, bring in NHL refs and let them call NHL style games. Get rid of the clutching and grabbing, hooking, and interference. The increased cost of game officials can be offset by eliminating the head of officials position, because the NHLers answer to their guy.

Has anyone seen the officiating in the USHL or the AHL? It has to be better than what we have now.

I would take a few "learning" mistakes from young, talented officials on their way up to the pros. Our league has some of the best players in the world for their age - if we need to get younger officials, so be it.

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Wow, while we're at it, can we get together these teams from the past and replay their games and subsequent games?

Colorado and Nebraska, the 5 downs game.

USA vs Soviet Union, Olympic men's basketball.

Dallas Stars vs Buffalo Sabres, NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

That's just off the top of my head...

I'm not making apologies for WCHA officiating, but far more egregious errors in sporting events have taken place in the past than what happened Friday night in Denver.

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Wow, while we're at it, can we get together these teams from the past and replay their games and subsequent games?

Colorado and Nebraska, the 5 downs game.

USA vs Soviet Union, Olympic men's basketball.

Dallas Stars vs Buffalo Sabres, NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

That's just off the top of my head...

I'm not making apologies for WCHA officiating, but far more egregious errors in sporting events have taken place in the past than what happened Friday night in Denver.

I think what's important did the governing bodies learn from these mistakes. The NHL did.

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I think what's important did the governing bodies learn from these mistakes. The NHL did.

They did? I guess I will have to check out ESPN Classic and see who won the extra overtime session from that 1999 game six. I hope Buffalo can pull it out and extend the series to seven games!

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They did? I guess I will have to check out ESPN Classic and see who won the extra overtime session from that 1999 game six. I hope Buffalo can pull it out and extend the series to seven games!

Um, they changed the rules to something better. The NHL has done quite a bit to clean up their act in officiating. The only problem I have is in their suspensions. Sometimes somethings worth a suspension, the next time it it's just a stern talking too.

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Mason and Schmidt?? I know Schmidt screwed up on a few goals that helped Denver, but how can you possibly put those 2 behind Campion and Robin Anderson? Adam is the undisputed worst official at any level, but Campion has had repeated complaints the past few years about his perceived bias. Remember the confrontation between Campion and the MSUM coaches after the UM v. MSUM game? Campion should be honest and wear his Gophers jersey when he's officiating. Robin Anderson is never in position, is horribly inconsistent from the beginning of the game to the end, and allows the interference and clutching and holding that the NHL eliminated. Even worse, he thinks he's part of the show. At least in my mind, Anderson is a close second to Adam. I actually like Randy Schmidt. Of course, the fact that he's a local guy (Fargo) may be affecting my judgment. We need ND officials to balance out the officiating crew, particularly after Mike Schmitt retired.

You know that the state of officiating is sad when Derek Sheppard does not even make the list of worst officials. :D

First off, I'd love to see NHL officials officiate WCHA games and call it the NHL way. But it is not going to happen under McLeod. He wants to be as good as the NHL but not as... who am I kidding. Sometimes the gold seal of what leagues are designed in response to just isn't enough.

Secondly, Mason maybe. I'm not altogether convinced he's beyond repair. As for Campion, lately he has been pretty emotional in games. I omitted him for the reason that, when Campion first appeared in the WCHA, he called great games. Every penalty I ever saw really was undisputedly a penalty. Then he got acclimated to Greg Shephard's "system" and voila. I'm just not convinced Campion's games are officiated the way Campion would do it, you know? It's hard to explain, but let me put it this way: I'm a substitute teacher. My job is to come in and act in the same capacity as the regular teacher, do the same job as the regular teacher for the day, and act as much according to how the regular teacher acts as possible. If Greg Shepherd is saying "Do it this way" (which I'm sure he is), then how do we know that Campion really sucks? Maybe he's just acting in a capacity that he interprets is expected of him by Greg Shepherd? Admittedly, the MSUM thing is odd, but still...

Papa Shepherd is the head of this ugly beast run afoul. I still maintain cut off the head and install someone who is competant. And definitely not a buddy of McLeod's. That means someone out of system. I'd love to have a highly respected, newly retired NHL head official take over. Or perhaps the NHL assistant supervisor of officials.

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who does sheppherd answer to? who is his boss? is it the AD's of each school or how does that work? Does sheppherd even have the power to hire or fire officials or who is that up to?

Shepherd's boss is McLeod, but Greggiepoo has often said that, since the coaches do not speak up about any officials during the offseason, they must be doing fine.

The "no news is good news" aka the "Buddy buddy" system component #1 is firmly entrenched in the officiating corps.

I don't know who hires or fires officials, whether Shep has sole or joint autonomy (with McLeod). He definitely has say, though, in retention and development of the officials though.

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