[Sabre Rattling]Referees/Panthers 3, Sabres 1

[SabresBeat]

First Period

- Very ugly first period for the Sabres. It was a combination of terrible ice, with the puck constantly bouncing, some Old Tyme clutching and grabbing by the Panthers, and terrible giveaways by the Sabres. Lydman was back to some of his early season generosity, with two blatant giveaways inside his zone. Maxim contributed [...]

 

http://www.sabresreport.com/blogs/?p=367

[SabresFanInRochester]

Buffalo definitely tried to coast through this game and did not deserve the win. But, the officiating was horrible. Buffalo had no chance coming back in this game.

 

What is Buffalo's record when Koharsky is the referee?

[Stoner]

I knew it wasn't the Sabres' fault! Damn that Don Koharski! I never thought of that angle. Thanks guys.

[inkman]

I honestly thought the game was called decent. The Sabres in no way deserved to get a point let alone two from that performance.

[SabresFanInRochester]

I knew it wasn't the Sabres' fault! Damn that Don Koharski! I never thought of that angle. Thanks guys.

 

 

Okay, either my post wasn't clear, or I am a machine at picking up sarcasm. I think the very first thing I said was, "the Sabres did not deserve to win."

 

Smart a$$!

[BuffalOhio]

How do you NOT call Mezei for elbowing when he clearly jammed Paetsch's head into the glass with his elbow? If anything, those penalties should've offset, but since FatBoy decided NOT to call elbowing, Paetsch's insitgator (deserved) was the only minor called.

 

Not to mention Roy getting blasted INTO THE FLORIDA NET without a call.

 

What a joke!

[Josh in Buffalo]

Look - the refereeing is the LAST thing we should be bitching about right now, ok? We did not lose because of the officiating. Right now this is a secondary concern - focus should be 100% on the team. They played poorly, they played with no heart, no spirit, no dedication, no pride, no effort - this is why they lost. The refs had nothing to do with any of that.

[Taro T]

Look - the refereeing is the LAST thing we should be bitching about right now, ok? We did not lose because of the officiating. Right now this is a secondary concern - focus should be 100% on the team. They played poorly, they played with no heart, no spirit, no dedication, no pride, no effort - this is why they lost. The refs had nothing to do with any of that.

If the Sabres lose by a goal to Atlanta and the reffing is horrible, there is a reason to blame officiating. Losing by 3 to the Cats is look in the mirror time and/or no one leaves the hotel room on the next Florida trip except to go to the rink / weight room time.

[BuffalOhio]

Look - the refereeing is the LAST thing we should be bitching about right now, ok? We did not lose because of the officiating. Right now this is a secondary concern - focus should be 100% on the team. They played poorly, they played with no heart, no spirit, no dedication, no pride, no effort - this is why they lost. The refs had nothing to do with any of that.

 

I agree, but my concern about the officiating is that it is taking a downward spiral. Many many things that would've been called last year are not being called now. That type of 'loosening' will have a negative affect on our fast but small team.

[thesportsbuff]

Now, here is a time where Lindy should pull the goalie when he gets a chance to. There are three minutes left, and if they don’t score on this PP - game over. The penalty is more than 3/4 over, and Miller is still in the net! Can someone please explain this to me? WE ARE DOWN BY TWO GOALS, NOT ONE, Lindy! WTF difference does it make if we lose by two goals or three?!?! This type of coaching I expect from the Bills, not the Sabres. .

 

Couldn't help but laugh at that part of the article. Three minutes left and a powerplay, the LAST thing you think about is pulling your goalie. Why give Florida the free shot, when you still have a fairly decent chance to score and still have 1 or 2 minutes left.

[Taro T]

I agree, but my concern about the officiating is that it is taking a downward spiral. Many many things that would've been called last year are not being called now. That type of 'loosening' will have a negative affect on our fast but small team.

I definitely agree that if the officiating goes back to the "old" NHL, the Sabres will be less successful as will the league be attendence wise and $ wise. I still think that what gets called varies quite a bit from ref to ref (and it did last year as well) and choosing a game that Koharski is reffing isn't proof of anything regarding the general state of reffing because he does, always has, and always will suck. I couldn't understand why he was a ref when he was a "fat pig" in need of a donut (Schoenfeld's quote has to be one of the 10 greatest quotes of all time) and I still don't understand why he's a ref today.

 

While I've seen some games that far more was let go (both ways) than I would like, there have also been some where pretty much everything has been called. I haven't watched many non-Sabres games this year (been far too busy to get much use out of CI this year), but overall in the games I have watched I haven't paid close enough attention to determine if what you are seeing is across the board or a case of the Sabres having gotten refs that tend to let more stuff go. There were definitely some games last year that let a lot of stuff go as well (2 of the 3 losses to the Panthers come to mind).

[Bmwolf21]

Look - the refereeing is the LAST thing we should be bitching about right now, ok? We did not lose because of the officiating. Right now this is a secondary concern - focus should be 100% on the team. They played poorly, they played with no heart, no spirit, no dedication, no pride, no effort - this is why they lost. The refs had nothing to do with any of that.

If the Sabres lose by a goal to Atlanta and the reffing is horrible, there is a reason to blame officiating. Losing by 3 to the Cats is look in the mirror time and/or no one leaves the hotel room on the next Florida trip except to go to the rink / weight room time.

Dead on here. Anyone who thinks the refs or bad ice were the reason the Sabres lost that game needs to take off the blue & gold (or maize & yellow, depending on your take of the Sabres' colors) glasses and look at the game objectively. The refs didn't make half a dozen errant passes in their own end in the 1st period. The refs didn't limit the Sabres to 18 shots; they didn't grab a stick and fire off a couple of the Panthers' 38 SOG; they didn't push Kalinin into Miller; they make Kalinin miss his assignments in front of the net...bottom line, the Sabres didn't come to play last night, and if Miller doesn't turn aside 28 shots over the first two periods, then we're talking about a 5- or 6-1 beating...and for all the "problems with the ice," I didn't see the Panthers have much trouble with the puck bouncing off their sticks

 

I agree that if the NHL continues to loosen up the calls it will only hurt teams like us - but in the end, it will hurt the league as well, since there are not many people who want to go see a 2-1 trap- and obstruction-filled game. Hey, whatever - it's not like anyone ever accused the league of being intelligent enough to protect their star players or take care of their fans, or ensure a quality product on the ice. And FWIW, I have noticed some referees more than others "loosening things up" and usually when it happens, it's one of the old-school/dinosaur refs - the ones who must have attended the old "no blood, no foul" school of officiating.