>>>Great game. It would have been even better if the U.S. had won but I am not complaining
>>>
>>>My only complaint is the officiating. Blown offsides calls, bad penalty calls (and non-calls)...on both sides.
>>>
>>>I'm not using that as an excuse for the U.S. not winning the gold...Canada won...but today's otherwise fantastic game was marred by horrible officiating.
>>
>>I didn't think the officiating was horrible at all. There was one missed offside call that I missed, which was replayed -- and was not called against the U.S. There were not a lot of penalty calls and I didn't disagree with any of them. Tripping, cross checking, plain as day.
>>
>>Maybe you noticed some things that I missed. Any other opinions on this?
>
>It's a fast sport and the refs have to watch twelve players. Olympic refereeing is sometimes questionable, but these were NHL refs. Even so, they are bound to miss a few. I heard the term "make up penalty" made by an announcer during one of the games. All in all there was some great hockey played during the Olympics. The Ladies hockey final was outstanding and very fast. I must admit that I haven't yelled team instructions at my tv, like I did this past two weeks, for quite a while.

Having refereed a lot of soccer, with 22 players, I know exactly what you mean. You can't see everything even with the help of two assistant referees. You also have to make the decision instantly. If you hesitate even a second or two to decide it's too late to blow the whistle.

Not comparing what I have done to these guys. The pro hockey players move much, much faster, and are also craftier.