C’mon Ref! You Saw That!

There are three officials on the ice all wearing the black and white stripes and all carrying whistles. There is an obvious trip right in front of the one near the blueline and he doesn’t even flinch. “C’mon ref call that!” screams a partisan fan. Seconds later the tripped player, incensed by the non-call, spears the offender just as the goalie deep in the zone freezes the puck and the front official (with the red armbands) whistles play to a stop. There is a brief conference between the three officials and the one with the armbands points to the player who speared and assesses a match penalty. The initial trip isn’t called at all. Half the crowd is furious and the other half smug at their good fortune. Everyone knows the first saw official saw both infractions but he didn’t call either. The guy with the armbands was deep in the attacking zone and didn’t see either yet he ended up making the call and only penalizing the spear.  You may be surprised to know that the officials were following procedure. Only the one wearing the fancy red armbands assesses penalties and he is indeed the referee. His two partners are linesmen and although they work closely with the referee, their duties are quite separate. There are very specific calls that the linesman is empowered to make. Penalties are the sole prerogative of the referee. The linesmen report specific infractions to the referee and he, at his discretion, assesses penalties. With the exception of ‘too many men on the ice,’ ‘leaving the penalty box early,’ the linesmen are only allowed to report major, match and misconduct penalties. They can, when asked, assist the referee with their accounts of what they witnessed in serious situations. That can be very helpful when the infractions occur behind the play or out of sight of the referee. In the example above, the linesman was permitted under the procedural guidelines to report the spearing incident – but not the minor for tripping. In some cases the referee can rely on the the timekeeper’s input for help in determining the first players to leave the players’ or penalty bench during an altercation. But, when it comes to assessing penalties, only the official with the armbands can make the call.  In the two-man system, both officials are referees. Both perform the duties of referee and linesman, calling penalties as well as offsides and icings.