Guess I didn't realize fans are now paying to watch officials work. 21 power plays -- in two periods! Who is Derek Berkibile kidding? That's a disgrace. He must have developed a blister on his lip in the third period because he didn't call any penalties then. How is that in any way consistent? It's easy to understand why the players are so confused about what's getting called night-to-night.
Fort Wayne is now 0-4 when he refs a game, but I'm sure he isn't unprofessional enough to have any bias. I HATE jumping on the officials, but this is a bit ridiculous.
OK, following my own rule (name one bad official, name one good ref), I like the way Brett Klosowski calls a game. What do you think?
Comments
Blake, good call. I listened to Bob about die two nights in a row over the officials. Last night 2-3 penalities in the 1st and then the parade to the box began. I agree, How can players play hockey if they always have to think about "What might this idiot call if I do this?" The officials are not consistant game to game, not even minute to minute. I can definitely name more bad than good. Hawthorne-bad, Gallagher-bad, Jerkebile-bad, Serle-bad, Shaun Davis-bad, I think you get the point.
I have never heard the Frankes and Bob Chase become that Vocal about the officials as I have heard the last 2 nights. Do they run any risk of being discipline by the UHL?
Are there other teams in the league that are just as upset? Do you think maybe the Komets being vocal and the refs and the UHL having "Rabbit Ears" may hurt us some the rest of the year. I think that you may be right about Berkebile. I notice the games he works at the MC that he'll watch guys real close like Lance and Worlton, when he was here, and call ticky tac things. He definitely has it out for us.
What is the answer to this poor officiating? And what if anything will the UHL do about it? Needs to be fixed, fast.
Blake, Derek Berkibile has got to be the worst I have seen in nearly 20 years of attending games. I was not aware of the team being 0-4 when he works a game. I would like to see the W-L record of the other teams when he officates. As far as officials that I think do a good job, I think that Neil Christopher and George Harrison are decent refs....also, the one who wears #9 does a good job...can't remember his name (I know, I'm getting senile!! LOL!) When my section hears that Mr. Berkibile is the ref I yell out "WE'RE DOOMED!"
Oh, I forgot....myself and my section (206 upper) call him "Puke-a-pile" since we all get ill watching him botch a game.
Blake you know being a fellow official I do not like being critical of my fellow men in stripes. However if officials are good the do not stay in the UHL long. The guys that you see year after year aren't good enough to move up. How many years has Derek Berkibile been in the league? I don't remember him going too far back. Guys like Jim Hawthorne who you see every year are passed over by the NHL development program and aren't going anywhere until the UHL cuts them loose. I wonder what happened to Christopher who did the cup clinching game a few years back. I haven't seen him in the UHL this season. Guys who you see in the finals are normally guys that have a shot of moving to better leagues.
The sad fact is, the UHL is home to officials who are waiting to move up or are not good enough to move up. So what you see night in and night out is not going to be consistant.
Doing a little poking around Derek Berkebile is only 25 and probably will be around for awhile. He is from Allen Park which is about 20 minutes from where I live. Apparently there are those that think he has the ability to move up or he would not be working things like this http://www.ushl.com/news/0506/20050824ushl.cfm
Jerkebile Stinks. Blake was right on. If we wanted to watch, pay money to watch, officials, we'd watch more of the NBA.
Maybe it is time that this league have some kind of training and development program or least have more day to day evaluations by coaches, GM's and some kind of supervisor of officals. I would like to see at least as an experiment the two referee system. But I know, all of this stuff costs money, but this is too big of an issue to just not do anything, but talk and no action.
#9 is Ken Gallagher, he did the game up in Flint friday night, I thought he is one of the better refs..he let alot of things go friday in the 1st period. Just like UHL players, there are reasons they are in the low level of the minors..but Berkabile calls EVERYTHING, if a player looks at another play wrong, he calls unsportsmanlike on both of them...
I will say Berkebile is the worst and I will probably cause some reactions with these but I will say Mondalek and Searle are pretty solid in calling the game. I like the way they both let the teams play.
Anybody know where the old linesman Mark Wilkins is? I had a chance to talk with him a few times when I was living down there. Nice guy who knew alot about the game. If I remember right he was from Fort Wayne?
I did some research and this is what I found (Komets record with certain Refs):
Berkabile: 0-4-0
Hawthorne: 1-5-1
Gallagher: 5-2-0
Mondalek: 6-2-1
Klosowski: 2-1-0
Searle: 2-0-0
There are many others but those are the ones that I remember seeing day to day. I would say that my favorite Refs are Mondalek and Searle (the records help also) and the worst in the UHL hands down are Berkebile and Shaun Davis, those two are clowns who don't know what 5 on 5 hockey is.
Ok we got the loss which stinks but I heard we played a better game than Muskegon overall. (Could have won if the reffing didnt suck.) And as long as we get into the playoffs thats what counts. If we can outplay teams like Muskegon, Rockford, K-zoo etc., now no matter what our record may be the Komets have a fighting chance in the playoffs.
Tony E, Mark Wilkins is working College hockey. He and one of the Chin brothers worked the Notre Dame - Michigan game that was held at the MC about a year or so ago.
Thanks Bob. Good for him. I lost track of him after the IHL folded up.
I agree that Searle and Mondalek are probably the two best. The worst is definatly Beberlekci or Gallagher. I agree with the comments above in that these guys are also minor-league officials. I would like to see the 2 ref system in the UHL. (At least as an experiment).
what do you expect from officiating in this league
we are at or close to the lowest level of minor pro hockey, college hockey gets
more talented and better
referee prospects than the
U gets. by the way gooo
fury, are you guys ever going
to beat us, i hope you can sneak
a victory from us sometime soon so you will stop crying about the refs!
Earl welcome to the boards.
A big wave from your neighbor on the other side of Michigan. I don't think anyone blamed the officiating for the loss last night. From the sounds of it, even the Fury fans were not happy with the tempo of the game. From what I have read around the internet, people who attended the game, even Fury fans felt that the game had little flow and that the play on the ice may not have warranted the number of penalties. It did not appear that the game was in any danger of turning into a brawl. I think if Fort Wayne and Muskegon players have alot of respect for each other and I would like to see/hear what would happen if the two teams would simply be allowed to skate, and hit a little bit without fear of a whistle blowing. The Fury have a great team. I think the Komets have come a long way from the start of the season to trim the gap between the two teams. The rest of the season should be interesting
oops. sentence should read "I think THAT Fort Wayne and Muskegon players have alot of respect for each other............
Evidently Berkabile thinks if he calls penalties he is doing good job..a good ref lets the players dictate the flow not the ref and his whistle blowing antics...
I guess it's easier to pick up on who's the worst ref because you generally notice the bad calls more. I think Berkebile would definitely be considered the worst, and listening to last night's game was, in a word, disgusting. It's hard to believe that Berkebile thought he was doing a good job! I mean, I've *never* heard Chaser or even any of the Frankes complain THAT much about a ref (at least over the radio). Since Chaser hardly ever complains about much of anything, I take his word seriously, and it sounds like last night's game was a complete joke (not that I really needed much to pick up on that... just looking at the boxscore will tell you more than enough).
I was at the game in Muskegon Saturday night. Some observations;
1) Komets played pretty well, but once I saw the ref was Berkebile, I commented that was bad for the Komets because if this game went true to form and became a "Special Teams" battle, we'd lose. Muskegon 5 for 10 on the PP.
2) Drouin and Chaulk we our best players. Drouin using his talent and Chaulk with exceptional hustle.
3) Most Refs get roasted for caling too FEW penalties. Berkebile takes heat for seeming to call WAY TOO MUCH. Again, last night, the game had no "flow."
4) Someone was hassling Hukalo and Guinn stepped in and pushed the guy off. Well done, Guinn. You don't have to fight every time to stand up for a teammate.
5) Four of the 5 goals on St. Pierre were scored from right in front on rebounds.
6) I'll give Berkebile credit for being consistent in that he sure didn't seem to be playing favorites in his calls. They were evenly made against each team and made throughout the game.
7) Puhalski was actually observed speaking to his players during a stoppage in play.
I can't get over how much Chaser was on the ref!! I loved it! And to hear Franke go off on a tangent...wooooo! We could have beat Muskegon last night!! I BELIEVE we can take the playoffs. Now, that's just my opinion-but I think it's a great one! I believe that not only are the Komets playing as a team and using their heads, I believe we are playing with heart! Just my opinion though.. Go Komets!
I believe the best ref in the league any more is Mondalak. The worse ... who knows. I actually think that Berkebile may have the potential to become one of the better officials in the league SOMEDAY.
When I reviewed a play in my mind last night after he had made a penalty call, I could see how he would arrive at the call. Many of the calls were for the "interference/obstruction" infractions.
I am sure he, like all other officials, has been told to crack down on this stuff. Strangely, I just think he needs to ALLOW a little more to go unpenalized. (How often do you hear yourself say THAT about a Ref?)
I agree that hockey should be played 5 on 5 as much as possible. Powerplay hockey is boring. Lest we jump too hard on one guy, let's look at what instructions he has been getting from his bosses.
Call the stck fouls and the fouls that prevent (or cause) an immediate scoring chance and use judgement on the others.
The Ref records were interesting, but I would suspect that some of the Refs are assigned by the geographic territory they live in so we may only see them in road games, etc.
Molly McMaster is going to skate a shift for the Komets on Match 12th. That is only one shift less that the 2 per game Garrett Summerfield used to get and, many times, one more than Jeff Worlton received.
That's funny stuff Skate!!!
Yes, the certain ref who called the game last night (and I do mean called and called and called and called), seems to have a problem with us in general, normally when he refs here in town. In fact, I am not allowed to play certain sound snippets due to the fact that said ref has rabbit ears. I love my job and would like to keep it, but with the arsenal of sound files I have and the creative way he calls games, it's hard to not get mad and play something that might get me in hot water with the league. But after last night and as the wav file says "This could very well be the stupidest person on the face of the earth!"
Skate, at least the team is still being allowed to dress the other 18 players. I still have not found out if her stats; if any, will count in the box score. Larry, the other night when you played the "Law & Order" soundbite....it sounded really good, very clear and clean recording. Just a thought; could you play in the background "Who are you?" (CSI Theme) by Pete Townsend and The Who to introduce the officials, especially if it's Berkibile? Of course, I don't want you to get in trouble...but let me know what you think.
We think we grip a lot about the officials the fury fans are about 10 times worse. too here them we should have had about 20 more, i should have not had any. most of the calls were right on. God i hate there fans.I will pay higher ticket prices just to beat there a$$.plus they are playing our you suck song.Now that realy sucks.
I'm with you on that one Smitty.
Skate and Smitty, thanks for reporting what you say.