Bad refereeing, in my opinion
Under the close watch of commissioner Rob Mazzuca, referees who work games in the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League are held to high standards and are more accountable than ever before.
Which leads to me opine that action should be taken against at least two Michigan Soo area referees who do not appear to be performing up to league standards.
Let’s begin by noting that over the past few years, Mazzuca has made it his business to rate the work of those who referee NOJHL games.
Traveling from one NOJHL town to another, often accompanied by his Sudbury area friend, long-time National Hockey League referee and supervisor Dan McCourt, Mazzuca has spent tireless hours trying to improve the level of officiating in the NOJHL.
Mazzuca and McCourt meet frequently to discuss officials and who should be working games — and who shouldn’t.
It says here that Michigan Soo referees Tony Crisp and Murray Meehan should not be working NOJHL games, period.
Not only do Crisp and Meehan appear to be out of shape and out of touch with this level of hockey, both seem to have difficulty skating and keeping up with the play.
Both have made what I feel are numerous bad calls in games involving the Soo Eagles thus far this NOJHL season.
There have been instigator penalties handed out that did not appear to be warranted. There have been misconduct penalties issued when the better route might have been for the referee to simply skate away and let the players play.
And from a home team standpoint, it has been the Eagles who seem to have been more affected by what I call the shoddy work of Crisp, Meehan and to a lesser extent, Dale Cryderman.
It’s almost as if Crisp and Meehan want to make it clear that they are not “homers” by calling borderline penalty after borderline penalty against the Eagles.
To be painfully honest here, Crisp and Meehan are not qualified to be NOJHL referees, in my opinion. In fact, their work as minor and high school hockey referees in the Michigan Soo has been cause for considerable concern.
What is standing in Mazzuca’s way when it comes to replacing guys like Crisp and Meehan with better referees is that Canadian officials are not welcome to call NOJHL games in the Michigan Soo.
Mazzuca actually brought in referees from elsewhere in northern Michigan to work an Eagles game earlier this season but from this view, they were not much better than the locals.
What it may have to come to — even though it will cost extra money because of travel expenses — is for Mazzuca and McCourt to reach out to try to get qualified, suitable referees from the Detroit area to head north to do Eagles games.
I happen to know that there is major concern within the ranks of the NOJHL about the sub-par officiating that has been performed by Michigan Soo referees.
And it’s not as though Crisp, Meehan and Cryderman referee for the love of the game only. They are well paid and I am not the only one who thinks that the NOJHL is being short-changed in return.
The NOJHL needs better referees to work games in the Michigan Soo, in my opinion.
In particular, Crisp and Meehan need to be replaced as NOJHL referees. They are not NOJHL caliber referees in any way, shape or form.
Just my opinion, no more, no less.
And there you have it.
Cheers RR!
Crisp shouldnt be refereeing hockey games any more period after he (allegedly) assaulted a St.Marys highschool player during a game last season
Your just another uneducated Soo-Billy…i was there and if my memory is correct, those Canadian idiots were charged with assult. get your facts straight you moron.
AKer neither kid was charged with assault so maybe you should be the one getting your facts straight before you chirp on here, typical greasy American dummy
Soofan97, you better check your facts. Both the little Rats were charged by the prosecutor and convicted. And I also believe that the one convict is banned from the 3 on 3 pond hockey tournament also for fighting,…hummmm I see a trend!
Well said RR! The NOHL is getting better as a league and to keep it there, they need qualified officials. Great post RR!
AKer you refer to “Canadian idiots and morons” yet you cannot spell the word “assault” correctly. Well at least you got the “ass” part right, probably because you are one.
The reffing has been an issue over there for as long as I can remember. Way to tell it like it is Randy!
RR makes sevreal good point’s including that the Refs have it in for the Eagles way more than they do for the Visiting teams. I agree …… Murray and Tony gotta go before theres a brawl that spills into the stands because these 2 always seem to let the game get out of hand.
I am in agreement 100 % these guys are not Junior Hockey level at all.
They have ruined many a Thunderbirds-Eagles game dating back to when Patty and Sean were coaching the Birds.
Randy , I really do not think this is your best article you have ever written. You personally attacked 3 Michigan Sault Officials , called them out by name on a public forum which I think is really B,S. I’m sure most of the people running their mouths w/ their own opinions on this comment section have never put on an Officials Jersey & have no idea what they are talking about. Everyone thinks they are a Referee making their calls from their seat in the stands & You stating your OPINION from the Gondola in the Pullar, which is the best seat in the house if that’s where you want to state Your opinion from & I say it again , Your opinion ! A Hockey Referee is not an easy side occupation to have, that’s why there are not a lot of us out there, and that’s why the numbers dwindle every year. Does anyone really think a 14 year old Kid wants to get screamed @ by some Hockey fan for 3 periods. Nope, he’ll go deliver pizza instead. It can be a thankless job !!
FYI PESPO7 is Fred DeVuono Jr. from Sault Mich, & I am also an Official,
Deliver pizza instead of getting $125 to referee one junior game? Well, go for it, Fred.
READ RANDY, 14 YEAR OLD KID !!!
PESP07, I’m in total agreement with you! As a former official I also believe this format is wrong! Not saying some refs can be doing games over their heads, but being called out by name in print is not right! Officiating has a small circle of officiating partners and this should throw up a red flag for any officials doing these games in the future! I’m sure someone in SE front office should be hearing from league office & RIC soon!
Just about any one from here who has ever watched a game over there knows how bad the Sault Michigan refs are. Not only behind the play and having a quick trigger and letting the game’s get out of hand to the point of danger but also there verbal abuse towards players in particular from Sault Ontario. Its about time that somone stood up and told the truth about these so called “qualified” refs over there. You guys are a disgrace to Junior Hockey and I hope that the NOJHL find’s a way to bring in there own refs.
PS…Randy…would you happen to know for sure what the Refs over there get paid to do the Games??
Soo Thunderbirds Sponsor,
Those who officiate NOJHL games at Pullar Stadium in the Michigan Soo are paid per game as follows:
$125 per referee = $250
$75 per linesman = $150
TOTAL per game = $400
We call out players and coaches who don’t perform, why shouldn’t incompetent officials suffer the same fate. Part of the problem is that there is no oversight for these guys, and they have created a tribe that protects their own. We played in the Boo in the Soo tournament last year, and most of the Pee Wee players were more accomplished skaters than the refs. In one game neither official skated below the the tops of the circles unless to retrieve a frozen puck or for a face-off. This is the same group that vandalized the tournament organizers property when they were bringing in their own officials for the week-end. Pesp07 and Mr Price are right it can be a thankless job, but if you improved your skating, improved your conditioning ,and improved your positioning ( in other words take a little pride in what you do), you would give people a lot less to bitch about, because the reality is there are probably ten people watching every game who could absolutely come out of the stands and do a better job.
I have been very hard on officials in the past. This year I have some good ones and well some that were plain bad. When continuous head shots are not called it becomes a safety issue. When one player gets jumped by two opposition players then fights back and gets kicked out while the two players stay in the game. For sure though,as I get older, I realize that reffing hockey is not easy and really there are not a lot of people getting into mostly for the abuse they take.
This is so true. The Eagles always get these terrible refs that lose them the game. The games we played against the Wildcats and Thunderbirds weren’t bad because we didn’t play that well and lost. But the last game with the Crunch… Omg the refs completely handed them the game. Eagles were short handed the whole time, they kept getting in the way of plays, and they would chat forever with Crunch players and their team is a bunch of prideful asshats. I hope these refs get kicked out, they are a bunch of biased assholes, in my opinion.
And what would your real name be ? If You are going to run your mouth like that, You shouldn’t be hiding behind Your handle . I’ve read Your rants before from the prior ” NOJHL Days” , please come out of the closet ?
If we want to come up with reason to bash officials, believe me they’ll be found. But that is not the point here! There is a bigger picture here and no one seems to be able to see it or just refuses to acknowledge it. This is wrong on all fronts to name these officials on this website! For all of those armchair officials, it takes more than skating or playing the game at a high level to even be an average official! Again, this is not something that should ever be done on this or any other website!
So Jeff, you think that referees making $125 a game should not be called out? And does that mean coaches who are paid should not be called out either? Just curious.
At any rate, get real, man. Like you, I woke up in a free world this morning, complete with freedom of speech.
I have been in the hockey world in the twin Saults for the past 25 years, both as a player and as an off-ice official. As a diehard fan I would like to thank you, Randy, for making a point to address issues in a game. My additional comments are as follows:
First of all, it is just that- a game. Yes, there is money to be made and fans across both nations, but at the end of the day I would hope that we recognize that the point of the game is to not for the crowd to watch the refs but for the players to give 100% into a sport that we love. There is no amount of money worth being bashed in public for the world to see. By calling out referees, we a not only diminish our own hockey club but we also diminish the ‘winners’ of that particular game. Being poor sports makes us look bad, not the refs.
Secondly, as I stated above, I am an off-ice official. I know the rules of the game and I know when calls are at the mercy of the on-ice official. That said I am not an on-ice official and have no hopes to ever become one because it is a hard and ‘thankless’ job. I make the assumption that they likely know more about on-ice officiating than does a reported sitting in the stands. For this reason I ask whether you, Mr. Russon, are a hockey referee, and if not why?
My third comment is that I notice you do not have any direct quotes from Mr. Mazzuca. Perhaps you did not reach out to him, or perhaps you did reach out and he did not provide you with a statement. I am wondering what the possibility is that you have read a report somewhere and are providing readers with your interpretation, or that Mr. Mazzuca does not want to go on the record with statements (in which case he likely has reason). I am not aware of your background, but I do wonder what makes you an expert in on-ice hockey officiating. Good reporting generally offers actual references or quotations from experts. I see neither in the above article.
I leave you with this final comment: I have seen officiating done well and poorly on BOTH sides of the border and around the state of Michigan. Fans probably complain about any and all refs at some point. Cheering for our team and complaining about refs are just two of the things that bring hockey fans together during the game but slander goes too far, in my OPINION.
Sault Hockey Fan,
You stated that I have slandered someone. What makes you an expert on the law?
For the record, I check my work with a lawyer before it is published. Perhaps you might want to do the same before you accuse me of slander.
$125 bucks to ref a hockey game sure as hell as pay’s better than delivering Pizza Freddy ha ha LMAO
FAST EDDY NEEDS TO READ MY POST ALSO. 14 YEAR OLD KID !!!
I love reading your stories RR but i think this is absolute BS that you call out these officials and call them out by name. I have been an official for 20 years and I agree that maybe they should not be doing that level of hockey but to single someone out by name is very very unprofessional.
I have not seen them officiate and they may very well be awful but that is besides the point
It kinda makes you sound like a hockey mom
It’s not BS to call out refs by name on a forum whats BS is to try and protect guys who are not capable to ref at certain levels especially if there game management could result in serious injuries due to missed calls and frustration boiling over. Then a team gets retribution for it….. Can’t take the heat of someone critiquing your game whether you are a player,coach or official then stay home
I see some people didn’t like comments so they were deleted. Glad you guys can dish it out but not take it. Again, what a joke! Ridiculous!
I always thought of you Randy as an idiot and now you have proven it
It’s been over a year since this article has been posted and at least 1 for the mentioned refs is still working NOJHL games. I guess the NOJHL board doesn’t take their own advice.