Who Makes a Better Referee?

NHL players, coaches and team executives who firmly support fighting in the game will tell you the enforcer role is needed to police the game.  The game is too fast and the on-ice officials can’t catch all the cheap shots so the players need to take matters into their own fists.  So who is better at controlling the game, the NHL referee or the team enforcer?

Carkner’s Response To Brian Boyle

My last post, A Superficial Look At UFAFs, was retweeted a couple of times and prompted a response citing an incident from this year’s playoffs.   Matt Carkner went after Brian Boyle in retaliation and the tweeter, based on my understanding, was using it as an example of why fighting is a necessary part of the game.  So let’s dive into this example and analyze it from my point of view.

A Superficial Look At UFAFs

With some recent big name UFA signings out of the way, I thought it would be a good idea to take a superficial look at UFAFs – those would be unrestricted free agent fighters.   Several teams added toughness for various reasons but some didn’t bother to look for new players who could add any scoring or those who would keep the team off the penalty kill.  Although they considered size and reputation, they may not have thought much about what negative impact the UFAF will have.