from Michael Traikos at the Toronto Sun,
One week into training camp and so far all the talk has been about how the referees are ruining the game of hockey.
Boston’s Brad Marchand called the NHL’s crackdown on cheating in the faceoff circle “an absolute joke.” Toronto’s Leo Komarov is upset that if he chooses to wear a visor, it must actually be low enough to protect his eyes. And there have been so many slashing penalties called that Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock joked he hasn’t been able to evaluate anything other than the power play and penalty kill.
The hockey might be sloppy for this time of year. But when it comes to criticizing the men in stripes, everyone seems to be in mid-season form.
Do they have a point? Well, kind of.
Prior to Wednesday night’s games, there were 91 slashing minors and 16 faceoff violations called in the 19 exhibition games in which off-ice officials kept real-time statistics. It seems excessive. And yet, this is the time to be excessive.
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