Welcome to Federal Offenses, my semi-weekly recap of the FPHL, the hockey equivalent of the kid on the playground who eats his own boogers, but we have to put up with him because his family paid to build the new football field.
The suffering, I mean, the season is almost over. It’s time for the Commissioner’s Cup Finals. Everything went almost as I predicted. Binghamton is in the finals, but Carolina knocked off Columbus. That’s right, another collapse by the River Dragons. Let’s start there, because I have something to say about the end of the Motor City/Binghamton series.
Columbus started out in the Continental Division Finals with a convincing 3-0 victory on the road against Carolina, but, much like last season, couldn’t finish the job. Trailing 2-1 late in game 2, the Thunderbirds pulled the goalie and Dawson Baker tied it up, sending it to overtime. 15:05 into the extra frame, Columbus turned the puck over in their zone and Jiri Pestuka won it with a beautiful deflection off a Nate Keeley shot. Game 3 would be another thriller. Columbus held an uncomfortable 1-0 lead in the 3rd, until Carolina tied it just over 12:00 into the 3rd. They would stay tied 1-1 into double overtime. 18:29 into the second overtime, Columbus turned the puck over in their offensive zone and Dawson Baker found Gus Ford who skated in all alone sending the Thunderbirds to their second straight Commissioner’s Cup Finals. Columbus not being able to get it done in the playoffs has become a bit of a trend, you could even call it choking. Winning in the regular season is one thing, but fans aren’t going to accept them not finishing the job for much longer.
In the Empire Division, Binghamton didn’t exactly have it easy with Motor City. Game 1 was a close match up, with the Black Bears squeaking out a 4-3 victory in Fraser, but Game 2 is what everybody was talking about. Rockers goalie Trevor Babin was having another great night in the net, stopping 30 of 32, until half way through the 3rd with Binghamton leading 2-1, when Tyson Kirkby skates into the crease towards Babin. A scrum ensues and in the end, Babin is the only one ejected. Motor City would tie it with 5 seconds left sending it to overtime. 11:26 into the overtime, Austin Thompson took a tough angle shot sending the home crowd into a frenzy and the Black Bears to their first Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
While it’s hard to bet against Binghamton, it’s even harder to discount Carolina. Like I’ve said, they always seem to step it up in the Finals. Bring a Best of Five, anything can happen. I have to go with the Thunderbirds here, they’re hungry after the heartbreak last season in Danbury. Carolina in 4.
Rant time
One of the biggest problems in Minor League hockey always has been the officiating. When I covered the SPHL, they had their share of horrible officials, but they also had some good ones like Tyler Puddifant, Curtis Marouelli, the late Jason Schulz and current NHL referee Peter MacDougall. The FPHL is no exception, but nobody says “so and so is really good”. The consensus among fans is that the officiating in this league is horrible, just read the fan groups on Facebook, it’s the only thing every fan base agrees on. This was highlighted by the ejection of Trevor Babin. Yes, he has a reputation of being a bit of a hot head, but what happened Saturday was mild compared to his past. For him to get kicked out for that in any game is ludicrous, let alone a win or go home playoff game. I understand it’s the lowest level of pro hockey, you essentially get the lowest level officials, but something has to change. I reached out to someone who knows something about officials and who was affected by this weekend’s events, current Motor City Rockers President, Scott Brand. Scott is uniquely qualified to answer this, he is the former Director of Officials and Hockey Operations for the SPHL, USHL and NAHL, among others. He spent 19 years in the USHL- advanced over 300 officials into division 1 college and minor professional and developed officials like Peter MacDougall,.who have reached the NHL. When I asked for his take, as expected, he didn’t hold back.
“I believe it was a disappointing interpretation of the rule and poor judgement. Video shows Babin in his crease was confronted, a scrum ensued that nothing more than a few minors should have been assessed. It’s pro hockey and as important, it’s the playoffs. Let’s not take anything away from the great game and the teams, Binghamton is a great team and tremendous organization, the Rockers as well.” Brand continued: “Officials don’t go out and try and make mistakes, it’s a tough job and they get more right than wrong, but like players, they need proper training, evaluation, rewards and disciplined just like players, we as a league and a member of the hockey world have a responsibility to the game, we can choose to make it better or sit back and watch it get worse. I personally think we need to rethink how we recruit, support and train officials not only our staff but all of sports, the proper development system works, we (the league) need to get outside of the comfort zone.” Scott also had a message for the fans who are understandably upset, “Fans need to relax also, it’s disappointing the amount of blame placed on the officials, they get most calls right, except for when my team is playing they are awful, haha. Seriously the “bad call” was the product of a bad system that WE (the league) have allowed to happen. If any league is serious about safety and fair play, the officiating equation has to have a long-term plan and support, in the budget and in the board room.”
I couldn’t agree more. The FPHL has had enough problems, this season alone. If they can work on developing more quality officials, it will be a step in the right direction. It’s time to get better. Besides, I’m running out of funny analogies to start my articles. Don’t read too much into those, we know the league has problems, it’s my subtle way of talking about it through humor. Enjoy the Finals, it should be a good one
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