National Hockey League Referees, Officiating Stink

National Hockey League referees are awful. The general officiating of the League isn't much better either.

The refs call penalties with such inconsistency that it's easy to wonder whether there are any actual rules in the game. A guy gets absolutely mugged and nothing happens, while a slight bump is interference and someone gets sent to the sin bin. It's no wonder teams have enforcers; the league certainly doesn't mete out punishments in any rational manner.

Then we have issues such as goal review, to make sure the calls are right to help ensure the proper outcome of games. Yet the on ice official cannot be overruled without significant video evidence. That's understandable, one supposes, except that if the call is wrong it doesn't matter what the referee said at the time of the play. Why worry about what the guy said on the rink? Just get the call right. As it is, there's an incentive to lean towards the on ice ruling instead of getting the call right. It's almost schitzo.

Hockey needs better officiating and better oversight if it wants a broader audience. Until then, the game will only matter to the fanatics who don't care about consistency.