PSA for entry-level beer league players
Cross-posted from r/hockey players:
Look ladies and gentlemen (although I use that one VERY loosely after last night's games). I worked a 3 set with our 21 year old son. In game 1, there's a clear puck battle just in front of the net. A little bumping and grinding but nothing that warranted a penalty. Home team player totally turns and slashes the other player in the shins. It's very deliberate and obviously a penalty. He's mad the other guy isn't going too. He starts in on the kid, who's broken up more fights doing Juniors than this plug had ever seen. The kid tells him to stop talking and go to the box. Nope...more profanity and rage...eventually gets a game misconduct for Abusive and Obscene Language.
Game 3 is worse is filled with incessant whining about every call from guys who skate worse than I would with my skates on the wrong feet, stickhandle like they have 20 pound weights on their wrists and who've played in fewer games than I've reffed (over 800 and counting) by a factor of at least 10. I am relatively terrible at hockey compared to our sons, but I could skate in the aforementioned wrong skates and outscore this group with a left-handed mini stick (I'm right handed).
At any rate, I ignored the whining and we called a very safe and fair game (even according to most of the losing team). Did that stop 1 guy from earning not 1,.but 2 (yes...2) Match Penalties after the game. Furthermore, his captain lost his mind and earned a game misconduct for Abuse of Official.
TL;DR / Back to the PSA part of this for you benders wearing shoe size skates and calling for passes by banging like an iron chef chopping vegetables:
You suck at hockey. If I am an order of magnitude better than you and I know that I suck...you're really bad at hockey. Quit taking shit so seriously and try to have fun.
Quit blaming the refs when you can't pass 5' without turning it over the other two, especially when you play worse defense than a pylon because you're so bad you actively make it harder for your goalie to make saves.
Definitely don't shove a ref so hard it's visible on camera that he's being shoved. Definitely don't exacerbate THAT match penalty by threatening a player on the other team that you'll go get your gun from the car.
Ok...that TL;DR was pretty long. How about we sum it up like this: Learn the rulebook, shut up, and try to have fun playing a great sport. Oh, and get skates 1.5-2 full sizes lower.than you currently have. You look like a drunk Bamby.