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I'm thankful for Don Koharski, how 'bout you?
ESPN The Magazine

The next time you're ready to cuss out an NHL referee for missing a call, stop yourself for a moment. Yeah, I know, it's frustrating to watch a hated rival skate away unpunished after dragging down your favorite player. But try to remember one thing: hockey is extremely tough to officiate. Trust me -- I tried it once.

I was coaching a club team in NYC, and the ref bailed a little while before game time. So it was either don the whistle or lose the ice time. To make it fair, I shared the duty with the opposing coach. Fortunately I could skate -- my counterpart wasn't so lucky. There was a bang-bang play around the net in which a puck was deflected into the net with a high stick. No replay. No second look. Just make the call. I disallowed the goal on instinct. That was tough, mainly because the call went against my team. We won, mercifully. I was never so happy to see a game end.

Us hockey fans have it pretty good. Our refs -- while not always right -- are definitely better than those in the other three major U.S. sports. The NFL doesn't even have full-time officials. Instead, they have a staff of retired (i.e. elderly) Palm Beach businessmen and bankers who work for the league on a part-time basis. And it seems the same guys have been working NFL games for decades. Next time you see one of those NFL Films shows, featuring games from the 1940s and '50s, check out the refs. I swear they are the same guys who are calling games today.

Thankfully, the NBA and Major League Baseball have full-time officiating staffs. Neither, though, has much to brag about. One question about the NBA: how come the visiting team always gets called for more fouls? Can you say, "intimidated by the home crowd"? That rarely happens to hockey refs. Just ask any New York Rangers season ticket holder. The Blues'll tell you how the refs have been screwing the Rangers for years. As for baseball, who knows what the hell is going on there? Umpires are fired, then hired back. Some umps seem to enjoy baiting players into arguments. And the strike zone has become an arbitrary place somewhere between the dugouts.

So today I'm thankful for Kerry Fraser and Paul Stewart and Don Koharski. You guys are a lot better than we give you credit for. You deserve a nice holiday weekend. And please feel free to have another donut.

E.J. Hradek will be celebrating Thanksgiving in New Jersey with his wife and the remote. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.



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