One Referee for the USHL

The USHL continues to use the one-referee system, which the NHL has laid to rest. After experimenting last season with using two referees for some regular-schedule games and all playoff contests, the world's premier loop will employ two referees throughout 2000-2001.

Many NHL players can't hack the tandem system. "I'm not a big fan of it," Buffalo's Mike Peca told the Canadian Press. "With one ref, you've got one guy who takes charge of the direction of the game. With two personalities, you don't know how a game is going to go." Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Pat Quinn is no fan, either. "There are some aberrations when there only is one guy, but generally they're pretty consistent," he said after a playoff game last season. "With two, you just don't know. One guy's calling from the opposite end. Positioning is not solid yet, and they get in the way quite a bit."

Most other leagues, including the high minors as well as the USHL, will continue using the one-zebra system for the foreseeable future (college hockey has used it for decades). That suits Scott Brand just fine. The USHL's director of referees shudders when he recalls the USHL's experimental use of it last season. "Coaches absolutely hated it," he remembers. "One game, there were 55 penalties. The game took more than 3 hours!"

While the USHL will use two refs in its all-star game, you probably won't have to worry about paying your babysitter overtime on a typical hockey night in Urbandale: There are no plans to adopt the system permanently. "The NHL wants tough referees," Brand says, "and being the only ref in a game will toughen you up in a big hurry. That's why they really don't want the lower minors and the juniors using it."

For years, detractors have been hammering shot after shot at the one-zebra system. The game has gotten too fast for one referee, they claim. Refs miss too much away from the puck. You can't make a call while clinging to the glass, dodging a vulcanized rubber missile. So one referee takes the forward area, one takes the rear, all angles are covered and, bidda-bing, bidda-bang, you have a better-officiated game.

Horse hockey!

Josh Levine didn't seem to have a problem calling the Bucs' 3-2 overtime victory Nov. 4 over Sioux City at the Ice Arena. Levine was never out of position, and kept his eye on what was happening along the end boards as the puck sped up ice. Courageously, with the game tied 2-2, he called a slashing major on the Musketeers' Trent Mozak with 3:06 to go in regulation time and, 1:47 later, added a roughing minor against Sioux City's David Vychodil, giving the Bucs a two-man advantage and leading to Ryan Bennett's game-winning power-play goal. Levine also kept the Musketeers from illegally substituting after the Bucs, as the home team, subbed their own player (the home team has the right of the final substitutions). And he did it all without help.

You can't overcome inferiority with greater numbers, though many leagues have tried. The NBA thought two referees worked just fine for 40 years. Then, with increased hacking and mugging in the low post threatening the marquee names, the league added a third official during the 90s, after the NCAA had done the same. The hacking and mugging remain a part of NBA life.

The NFL added a seventh official, the side judge, about 10 years ago, to cover the far downfield area across the way from the field judge, who also is supposed to cover the hail-Mary passing territory. During a typical NFL game, there isn't one TV shot without a striped shirt in it. And, even with not-so-instant replay, they still can't make the calls right! How many more officials do we need? Two? Three? Twenty?

Watch a soccer game sometime, and you'll see one referee oversee an area that's larger than a football field. One referee!

Proponents argue that the two-man system will prolong referees' careers by cutting down on their skating. But if referees keep in shape, that shouldn't be an issue. Even discounting Clint Eastwood, we send into space 50-year-old astronauts who are in tip-top shape. Why can't we send 50-year-old men who are in tip-top shape onto the ice?

Yes, the game is faster, the players shoot the puck harder, and the challenge to keep a game under control has increased. To attract competent officials, the NHL needs to increase salaries and benefits. There needs to be an organized referee training system that extends from the NHL down to Junior A. That's the only way referees such as Josh Levine, who stay in shape and understand the rule book and common sense, can go out night after night and control a game and command respect on the ice. Adding an additional referee won't make hockey a better sport. All you need for a competently refereed game is a competent referee.

By Ira Lacher
Ira Lacher has covered pro hockey, including the NHL, for a variety of newspapers and magazines throughout North America