McDavid Trash Talks Officials

[chuckcouples]

After scoring on his shootout attempt, Connor McDavid skated by the referee and said, "Check upstairs." He was given a 10 minute misconduct for abuse of officials.

Discuss.

[StuntMan12]

A little immature, but he is only 21, he will (or should) grow out of it.

[Rylant]

It was really a nothing penalty since it was in the shootout, but I do wonder if they would have given him the same penalty during the game when it would have mattered. But seriously, “Abuse of officials”? Was it a snotty thing to do? Sure, but abuse? Come on... are you not allowed to question officials or tell them that you think they made a bad call? I have a feeling that they were very aware that it was a nothing penalty, and this was the way they were able to try to come across by looking like they weren’t going to tolerate this kind of action!

Rylant

[2014olympicgold]

Refs get blasted all the time by players. I'm sure worse things are said on the way to the box. It was just that he was the only man on the ice and made a hand gesture. If he didn't point at the box area i doubt this is called. But i loved it. Reminds me of the other day when Blake Griffin got T'd up for throwing the ball (at half, ref was at the baseline) at the ref to "aggressively" and then said, "what now i gotta pay money cause you cant catch?"

[PenguinHunter]

It was really a nothing penalty since it was in the shootout, but I do wonder if they would have given him the same penalty during the game when it would have mattered. But seriously, “Abuse of officials”? Was it a snotty thing to do? Sure, but abuse? Come on... are you not allowed to question officials or tell them that you think they made a bad call? I have a feeling that they were very aware that it was a nothing penalty, and this was the way they were able to try to come across by looking like they weren’t going to tolerate this kind of action!

Rylant

Does Crosby not do this all the time? The reason I used Crosby is because he is the common comparison for McDavid. I know I have seen compilations of videos of him complaining to the ref and doesn't usually get a 10 minute penalty. Can't believe that McDavid got a penalty for this. It is only good for those that own him in a multi-cat league with PIMS.

Maybe the ref that gave him the penalty owned him in his own fantasy league and took the opportunity to stack up some PIMS for his team... haha

[Axeman33]

I think the penalty was dumb but whatever.

I thought Matthews the other night, when he made pointed to the net beside the ref (and at the same time) after scoring his goal is just as bad and he didn't get anything for it. He was just pissed off because his earlier goal was called off due to goalie interference. It's a non-call to me, just like McDavid chirping is.

[Axeman33]

I think the penalty was dumb but whatever.

I thought Matthews the other night, when he made pointed to the net beside the ref (and at the same time) after scoring his goal is just as bad and he didn't get anything for it. He was just pissed off because his earlier goal was called off due to goalie interference. It's a non-call to me, just like McDavid chirping is.

[SeaDawg]

I think the penalty was dumb but whatever.

I thought Matthews the other night, when he made pointed to the net beside the ref (and at the same time) after scoring his goal is just as bad and he didn't get anything for it. He was just pissed off because his earlier goal was called off due to goalie interference. It's a non-call to me, just like McDavid chirping is.

I think the Matthews incident led to McDavid's penalty...Matthews showed up the refs and got away with it. Shortly after, McDavid does something similar, so they penalized him. They don't want a trend to start. That is, they can take plenty of abuse when it is done somewhat discretely, but if star players start hand gesturing to mock the officials, they are going to try to stop that.

This does speak to a bigger issue, though. Players are getting fed up with all the goals being called back, as are the fans. I read somewhere that the league is going to reconsider some of the plays that can result in a review, and in turn a goal being called back. I think many people, me included, think the league has gone too far.

As for the refs, I'm sure they are fed up too. They are simply enforcing the rules; they don't make the rules. Having players like Matthews and McDavid show up the refs because of their frustration over the rules isn't going to make the refs very happy.

I suspect changes will be made soon.

[Rylant]

Does Crosby not do this all the time? The reason I used Crosby is because he is the common comparison for McDavid. I know I have seen compilations of videos of him complaining to the ref and doesn't usually get a 10 minute penalty. Can't believe that McDavid got a penalty for this. It is only good for those that own him in a multi-cat league with PIMS.

Maybe the ref that gave him the penalty owned him in his own fantasy league and took the opportunity to stack up some PIMS for his team... haha

Ya that’s my point. In the very same game, as Nurse was skating to the penalty box, it didn’t take an expert lip-reader to see Nurse aggressively exclaim to the ref “That’s f**kin bulls**t!” That kind of thing happens ALL THE TIME. Isn’t that worse than scoring a goal and mockingly asking them to go upstairs to check if it’s legit?

And seriously, how is that “abuse” of an official? Stupid...

Rylant

[Kofax]

Why are we even discussing this? It's such a useless topic.

He was likely getting razzed all game by the sounds of it and threw down a meaningless penalty at a meaningless time to show he was tired of it.

He's not going to do it during the game. There is no fallout from the penalty. It doesn't matter.

[Rylant]

I didn't like Matthews doing it. I didn't like McDavid doing it either.
I agree that the refs probably all got a little memo from the league saying something like "going forward... if you see actions like the Matthews celebration, misconducts are encouraged to discourage that kind of disrespect to the officials."

It's different when the stars are talking directly to the refs (or whining to them) but showing them up like Auston and Connor just did - I'm sorry, it's flat-out wrong. As a Leaf fan, it pains me to say that because Matthews is quickly becoming one of my favourite Leafs ever, but I don't want my future captain acting like that. Ever.

If that’s the case, I think it’s ridiculous. In baseball, you have umps who are notorious for tossing people whenever they make a slight peep. I have always prefered the umps who know that this isn’t about them and their fragile ego, and who let players who are pissed about something vent a bit.

Does anybody honestly think that if a penalty on McDavid WASN’T called, that there are those out there who would question the refs not calling a penalty on him? “How could they let him get away with that!?!?” Is asking them to go upstairs disrespectful? Really? Give me a break... He’s frustrated. His comments didn’t damage the refs reputation. Leave him be...

Rylant

[Brosive]

Why are we even discussing this? It's such a useless topic.

He was likely getting razzed all game by the sounds of it and threw down a meaningless penalty at a meaningless time to show he was tired of it.

He's not going to do it during the game. There is no fallout from the penalty. It doesn't matter.

I agree. Most likely the ref was continuously harassed after the no goal call. He finally had enough when McDavid made his comment. The 10 min misconduct was irrelevant at that point in the shootout.
0% chance the penalty would have been called during the game.

[newfcollins]

I've read a few autobiographies by NHL refs, so I can't remember which one said this. But basically, they explained there's a very fine line. A player can say something like "that was a horrible call" (in whatever colourful language one might use), and that's fine. But if the player says "you're a horrible ref," then it's a misconduct.

McDavid's actions point to the latter. Basically, you can complain about a call all you want, but as soon as the focus has switched to the ref, that's when the penalties come in.

[chuckcouples]

It certainly won't be irrelevant if he gets another one.

I will assume that the NHL will rescind the "Abuse of Official" part of this penalty without telling anyone as I am pretty sure saying "Check Upstairs" is not abusive.

The referee also gave David Rittich a 10 minute misconduct for being angry and smashing his stick when the Flames lost the game in OT. Even Rittich did not think it was goaltender interference on the Strome disallowed OT goal. If he thought he was interefered with he would have got up quickly and complained to the ref instead of lying down on the ground then getting up and skating to the bench breaking his stick.

[Rylant]

I've read a few autobiographies by NHL refs, so I can't remember which one said this. But basically, they explained there's a very fine line. A player can say something like "that was a horrible call" (in whatever colourful language one might use), and that's fine. But if the player says "you're a horrible ref," then it's a misconduct.

McDavid's actions point to the latter. Basically, you can complain about a call all you want, but as soon as the focus has switched to the ref, that's when the penalties come in.

How does suggesting the ref check upstairs point to him being called a horrible ref? McDavid is WELL aware of the fact that the ref had nothing to do with goaltender interference being called on the play. It was the situation room who made the call, and the ref is just the messenger relaying the info. McDavid is frustrated with the inconsistencies and him saying ?Check upstairs? is an indication of that. He wasn?t suggesting that the ref is horrible. Are they so fragile that a comment of ?check upstairs? is an abuse of official penalty?

Further to this; IF it is a situation where the ref needs to call an abuse of official penalty when somebody who is frustrated with the state of video replay says ?check upstairs?, well grow some thicker skin. He is frustrated; it?s not disrespectful. However, IF this is a case where they would have NEVER made this call in a game situation and actually sent McDavid off the ice for something so silly, BUT decided to make a stand knowing that the situation was in overtime and even though it wouldn?t actually affect the game, but would send a message saying that this shouldn?t be tolerated? Well then that further supports the argument that consistency is an issue with the officiating. Oh, you will make the call when it doesn?t matter, but you won?t when it does? What kind of message does that send?

Rylant