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Ref Memories

    I went to the second game of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League final between the Niverville NightHawks and the Virden Oil Capitals. It was a really good game and congratulations to all the members of the Oil Capitals on a great season.

    The officials I thought were doing a great job of the game but I guess the Niverville coach had a different opinion. I believe the officials had about enough of him and at one point, the coach signalled for a time out as the line that was on the ice for their club was out of gas, so he used his teams timeout. This reminded me of a game in Grandview that I was officiating. 

    The coach from Grandview was on my case right from the start of the game, and you know I just remembered some things he was yelling and sort of decided there would be a time when Gerry would have the last say.

    Now if you watch official signals you will know that when you call a timeout that your hands go above your head and you tap the palm of your hand with your fingers from the other hand, that is timeout. The signal that a referee uses for unsportsmanlike conduct is in front of you, you tap the palm of your hand and the fingers tap underneath the palm of the hand. A technicality for sure, but still a little something in his back pocket for an official to use.

    This coach who will not quit yelling at me calls a timeout using the unsportsmanlike sign. I skated over to the bench and asked him, are you calling time out? He said of course I am you..... I skated over to the timekeeper and official scorer and told them that I was assessing the coach a bench minor penalty for delay of game. I took my time getting ready to resume play but of course was waiting for the announcement that the coach had been assessed a bench minor. When the coach heard the announcement and my linesman confirmed the call to him well, he went a little off the deep end to say the least. It probably did not help that I had a smirk on my face, as my buddy Randy Kalynuk would say, chickens come home to roost. Of course, I threw the coach out of the game and it seemed to get really quiet in the rink.

    I talked to some of the players on Grandview about what had gone on. Many of them said that I should have thrown him out sooner and had no problem with what I did.

    Oh yes, the coach was suspended for two games. Possibly, I did not handle this situation correctly, but I had the last say, and that was final!