It's one thing to accuse a referee of incompetence, as Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks did on Monday.
Quite another to eviscerate the man's integrity:
"It was personal. It started in warm-up. Before the anthem, the ref came over and said I made him look bad in Nashville on the Smithson hit and he was going to get me back tonight. He got me on a diving call that I didn't think was diving and an interference call. I had no idea how he could call that. It changed the game."
It comes as no surprise that over the course of a long season, relationships between certain players and certain referees will ebb and flow.
We've all heard about the "veteran call" and the "reputation call" - situations in which the law is not applied equally to all skaters.
If Stephane Auger went into last night's Canucks-Predators game with payback on his mind, he's surely not the first referee to do so.
But if he was dumb enough to talk about it, he shouldn't be surprised to see his name at the front of the Vancouver sports sections today.
This isn't a crisis for the NHL. Just a reminder that the facade protecting the integrity of pro sport is very thin.
Everyone understands how officiating decisions wield enormous influence. But we don't like to think about it.
A happy fan would rather remember the big power play goal that won the game for his team, not the iffy tripping call that made the moment possible.
No matter how much malevolence, deceit, and chicanery we see at work in the rest of the world, we cling to the notion that referees will do their jobs without prejudice at all times. Any screw-ups are attributed to honest human error.
So whatever shenanigans might be at work on the ice, maintaining the appearance of strict impartiality is essential. Even if it is just a facade.
Alex Burrows put a nasty crack in that facade. Gary Bettman and the NHL had better move quick to patch it up.
Update, Jan. 13: Burrows has been fined $2,500 for his remarks. The referee apparently will not be disciplined by the NHL.
Update II, Jan. 14: The Ref's Side of the Story.
Photo: Stephane Auger (second from the right) is off the Canucks' Christmas card list (Dave Sandford/Getty Images).
Comments
Auger is a disgrace to the NHL. He shouldn’t be officiating ANY games. This is not the first time that there has been controversy surrounding him.
If indeed the ref did say that the player in question during warm-ups, you would think at least ONE of his teamaates would have overheard and would be willing to stand-up and say so. I do not doubt for a minute that some refs have bias. Until one is accused of gambling, Bettman will keep his head in the sand – as usual
And don’t forget that the same ref in the Burrows “incidents” is the same ref that accused Shane Doan of a “racial” slur; something every player in the league would agree was not would ever come out of Doan’s mouth.
Make’s you wonder about the integrity of the ref after the NBA has had it problems and after the NFL has had as many problems contending the integrity of their game (players in their case).