May 11th Preview, PWHL Playoff Update, Why Don't I Call Out the Officials? 

Shannon doesn't want a $25k fine for calling out officials. We get it.

I appreciate your coverage of the league. It’s ridiculous that anyone wouldn’t expect you to have favorite teams or opinions. Your coverage is smart and reasonably unbiased, and that’s pretty hard to find. Thanks for what you do.

Shannon, I gave you crap a couple of days ago regarding the Benn hit, but you’ve always been fair. And this is coming from a diehard Avs fan. I disagree at times, but at the end of the day, I appreciate you. And all your subscribers do. At the end of the day, we’re hockey fans watching THE Hockey Guy. Thanks for what you do!

You can never please everyone, there's probably people out there who don't see any hockey merch from their team in your room and think you hate their team etc...as long as you're enjoying yourself and having fun with hockey, who cares what people think.

A general life motto I have is "control your controllables". Bad calls are going to happen. Yes, in a perfect world that wouldn't be the case but this is nowhere near a perfect world and expecting anything near perfection when it comes to humans officiating a live sport is an unrealistic expectation. Boston can't control the officiating and can do nothing about the brutal call that led to the 4-0 goal. But they absolutely can control they're own play. Eight shots on goal in 45 is pathetic. You can't blame that on anybody or anything else other than just getting outplayed by the other team. We all remember the major penalty from Sharks/Knights in 2019. Penalty? Sure. Major? Hell, no. Could Vegas do anything about the penalty? No, but it's absolutely inexcusable to allow FOUR goals on the ensuing penalty.

Dude, I don't know why you keep reacting to all these comments. If some people have a problem with your content, it's their problem, not yours. You just keep doing your thing.

The World Championships have started in the Czech Republic. Canada scrapped to a 4-2 win over GB this morning. It was a very close game.

Thanks for the PWHL update! And keep up the great work!

Thanks for covering the PWHL. Really wish they would shift their playoffs until after the Stanley Cup as I believe they wound get way more coverage and attention. Here in Australia our women’s AFL football season is played before the men’s season starts and it’s great! 👍

Shannon thanks for covering the PWHL in the preview. Officials are human, its annoying but that is part of the game. There is room for improvement and I agree with you, if a team is going to win they'll typically do it regardless of the officiating.

PWHL went to triple overtime tonight, it was wild. 2-1 OT Boston win for the 2nd game in a row. So Montreal's also gotta win to stay in it. It'll be really funny if Toronto wins the championship, especially since the Toronto Six won the Isobel Cup last year in the PHF. The Toronto PWHL team got that 11 game win streak earlier this year, and after being shut out in the first game. It's been crazy to watch. Minnesota hasn't won a game in ages and only clinched their playoff spot in the last game of the season because Ottawa lost. So them losing to Toronto is.... Well, even speaking as a Minnesota fan, not surprising. The shutouts are a bit surprising though, lately they've been more inclined to blow leads than anything. I do hope they manage to score a playoff goal before they're inevitably done. It'll also be interesting to see what changes are made this summer. New York already parted ways with their coach after they finished at the bottom of the standings. Anyway, thanks for the coverage, Shannon!

PWHL has been awesome. Boston vs Montreal has been 🔥.

This will be the first time since February 15th, 2022 that the Stars (first under DeBoer as head coach) will play at the Avs that's not on a second night of a back-to-back.

Hockey has never been fair, the refs won't see/call everything they should. As long as you can get away with it you're all good. That's always been the spirit of the game because it will never ever be completely fair. You just need to win regardless.

Last night 2-0, total 34-20 Tonight: CAR, COL

The PWHL is having an excellent inaugural season.

"Stupid Hockey Guy is always biased against my team."

Well tbf, it’s not like you have the Officials number on speed dial… Unless you do in which case that would make sense since you also seem to have Gary’s number

We love and appreciate what you do for us hockey fans. Never forget that, Shannon

Love your work shannon, youre a wellspring of hockey knowledge and irreplaceable

Thanks for the update on the PWHL playoffs, Watching Toronto and Boston in the women’s league has been a blast this year.

At this point I think Minnesota would be happy with just getting a playoff goal before they get knocked out. 0 goals in their first 2 playoff games, now on the brink of elimination as the series shifts to Minnesota, maybe playing in front of their own fans will help with team morale.

Not sure if you heard, but PWHL will be getting Bauer jerseys next season

THANK YOU for that final statement on the penalties.

I can handle officiating to an extent, but when they miss the most obvious calls that where I draw the line. Missing a high stick that drew blood and slew foots is just insane.

They should call the playoffs like they call the regular season. One day, a high profile player is going to get a career-ending/altering injury because of all the blatantly dirty ish the refs let go in the playoffs.

Great hat, love the old logo

I love that people see 4 different angles of a play on a replay and think that a ref in real time who can only see one angle (if they're even looking that way, since there are 10 players on the ice) shouldn't miss a call. None of these same people could call a mite game. It's just humorous to me.

Love the pwhl content

My issue with the officials (especially in the playoffs) is when they don't call blatantly obvious penalties that you know damn well they saw - one of the best examples was from last year's playoff series between Toronto and Florida when Radko Gudas raced in from the top of the faceoff circle and nailed David Kampf after the whistle had blown. Whether or not Gudas heard the whistle is irrelevant - it's still charging! I like to think that many of us hockey fans aren't hypocrites and will agree with other team's fans when "our" team got away with an obvious call. Unfortunately, there's still some out there who feel that "their" team can do no wrong...

I knew he hated my team back in the day, because he explained his past feelings toward the Penguins.😊

Thanks for covering the PWHL! We've been going to the games in Boston and they are super fun!

Love the content

For the pwhl. I definetly think montreal looks like the better team. Bostons goalie absolutely stood on her head that game. Either team could make the finals at this point

I don’t personally think that it matters who wins Boston Montreal because Toronto is going to wipe the floor with whoever it is.

well said brother

I remember when my favorite WHL players would get drafted to teams "I hate" and I'd get upset.... cause those teams had a history against my teams. Over the years, I have found I'm pretty agnostic towards teams and I root for players. Although I'm still a Habs and Canucks fan.

Don't listen to the haters that say you hate their team

i think that if someone is bleeding on the ice then that should definitely be reviewable as to why that happened. They are literally bleeding, there is proof that something happened, and they have to be checked out immediately to see if they're ok. Can someone writhe on the floor with no immediate visible proof of something broken and fake it? Yes. Can someone make themselves bleed purposefully? yes, but that hazard is way higher to commit to than something you would have to take gear off to see... if bleeding is ok by officials then they are setting a very dangerous bar that the players can hit for the rest of the game

I hear you

You need to add a 'Fans call one, Ref doesn't' shirt to your store. Keep up the fantastic work!

PWHL❤❤❤❤

White towel. :) Thank you.

Funny the first year PWHL Toronto team is doing better in the playoffs than the Leafs did .

It was 31 years ago when a team from Canada won the Cup

5:40 i think there are 6-8 penalties a period sometimes. Games are so fast its tough to know what happens every second

I really don’t like the rangers, but damn are they good. Really feel for the canes if they get swept again. They’ve been close every time, just like last year. Rangers have more offense and an edge in net, so they have to win in reg if they want to win at all.

Thanks for the PWHL coverage! Go PWHL Boston!

This is a comment for the algorithm gods.

So, I'd put a tenner on the Canes pulling off a reverse sweep. It'd help if Shesterkin forgot how to play hockey... GO CANES (at least win one at home)!!

I think there is a big difference if a ref has a reputation about being a poor ref. Who the referee is should not be news or concerning prior to the game. The game between the Canucks and Oilers was shit-show by the refs. They missed egregious calls for both sides and I would've fully understood it if the Oilers fans were angry at the refs if the lost. It was a terribly officiated game, it was embarrassing.

Yesterday: 2-0 Overall: 32-22 Rangers Avs

It's Saturday... eastern game should be at 3pm... the west game at 7pm. The late starts are brutal. And how about an AHL playoff update?

Also I’ll say Shannon anyone claiming you somehow are rooting for or against teams is really strange. I think you do a great job playing it pretty much down the fairway. Everyone has biases and there is no shame having slight bias from season to season.

At this point, a decade after we saw teams begin to develop their own data driven analytics-what do we make of the fancy-stat-darling Canes? What data could have predicted this?

My problem with officiating when it dictates who can play and who will get called for being Tall

Only a matter of time before AI takes over officiating lol

Losing game 3, and thus being down 0-3 killed my interest in going to the game tonight in Raleigh. I will watch on on TV. Canes need to play better on the pk and stop taking stupid penalties. If we get swept out 2 years in a row on 2 goal games I think the Canes open up a lot of roster and coaching questions with tough answers.

You were right about Skjei lol (gwg)

I usually agree with everything Shannon says, but this time when talking about getting eye in the sky or robot officiating for hockey would be impossible. I have to agree with him in as much as this isn’t like having robot umpires in baseball where strike zone is between this air this area up high this area down low and left and right there’s a box that you can put up there showing the strike zone, great video again, Shannon

This isn't a shot on referees, but I'm just curious about the evolution of boarding/hitting from behind. Is that not a thing anymore? I've seen a few in the last couple games.

There is nothing wrong with hating a team. I hate Boston, Colorado and Vegas. I love Dallas, Florida and Vancouver. The rest I could care less.

Canucks fans were calling that the refs needed to call all the infractions, but they neglect to acknowledge that the penalty calls would have been 7 for each team which would likely mean that the Oilers would have scored 3-4 power play goals instead of just the one this game. Then they'd be complaining about the refs calling too many calls. More penalties does not benefit the Canucks in any way.

I would like the Avs to win, but with the starts they have had, I don't see it happening. Hopefully they win tonight, but maybe, just maybe, people are right about Dallas.

Officiating is one of those things... often it balances at the end of the game.. not always... but often it does.. that and.. OMG, if the ref's called EVERYTHING.. the fans would complain more because they "Should just let them play!"... can't get it both ways. And it is better.. I grew up and fell in love with Hockey between '75 and '85... (around that time, the sabres moved to a different TV Network that I didn't have access to and became hard to follow.. on top of that, I reached an age where I was busy as hell too... ).. and back then.. we have 1 ref and he called everything but offsides.. which was the linesman to call... 2 sets of eyes just can't see everything.. and if you think it's bad now.. back then it was 1 set of eyes and OMG that could barely see ANYTHING... you could nearly kill a guy if it was away from the puck... My complaints are more with the guys who make the rules... The Goalie INT... I believe 1. ANY contact with the goalie in the crease is INT.. period.. pushed? I guess you were too close... If you blow them up (like the other night) , major... behind the goal line.. Goalies are no longer tending goal... don't treat them different... if they get cleanly checked... such is life... and if it starts a fight.. the first player in to throw the punch... 10m misconduct... I believe the goalies are in a vulnerable position.. but by going behind the net, they are giving that up... you get what you pay for... you want to play puck handler.. well, you get the bumps of one too... forget that stupid trapizoid crap... whoever thought that up didn't like hockey.

Man, I really hate the rangers…but I have to give them all the credit in the world.

Shanarchy and pandemonium!!!

The Canes just don't have the offense necessary in the playoffs, something needs retooled a little. They make every goalie look like 1999 Hasek

Anyone blaming the officials for the nuks loss is coping lmao

Hard not to notice CAR winning a faceoff and the linesman furthest from the drop skating in from in front of the ranger bench negates the drop and sends out the CAR player and the following drop is won by nyr. Thats bs. That’s a finger on the scale. It’s not the reason for a loss, but it’s definitely a finger on the scale.

Canes need Justin "big game" Williams to come in to the locker room before the game tonight.

When can I watch the PWHL?

"When the players, and the coaches, don't know what a penalty is (or isn't), then, don't defend the referees or The NHL; something is seriously BROKEN." - The argument lately, by my count, isn't so much about officials being biased for or towards one team over another (though obviously, it's happened, and been documented, as well as officials having personal biases against particular players, as has been documented - see Canucks Alex Burrows, for example.) No, the concern lately seems to be more about the overall TERRIBLE quality of officiating, generally, and the inconsitency (see below, regarding obvious biases creating acts of inconsistency), specifically. It's not only the fans compaining. It's the players, and the team coaches. No one knows what's going to be called, unless it's a FLAGRANTLY OUTRGAGIOUS PENALTY, but then again (see: McDavid high-stick on Hughes, or the dangerous boarding play against Pettersson in the Gm 3, Canucks/Oilers). When the players, and the coaches, don't know what a penalty is (or isn't), then, again, don't defend the referees or The NHL; something is seriously BROKEN.

Natalie Spooner and Kristen Campbell have had an incredible first two playoff games. I hope they can keep it up.

Sometimes when a player has had too many concussions his vision, hearing and mobility gets impaired and the career is done. But he can then start a new career as a ref. Well, not exactly. I don't always like all of the calls and non-calls but in general the officiating is fine.

Yesterday: 2-0 Record: 31-23 Today: NYR, COL

Ahl?

Picks (29/54) Yesterday: 1/2 Today: NYR, COL

Reffing was wild in both NHL games last night. Glad my Oilers won in OT but how the refs missed Hyman get high sticked and Hughes get high sticked I honestly do not know. Along with some other ones both ways. And as someone who has despised the Bruins (mainly cuz 2 guy I hated growing up loved them) I’m still dumbfounded they got called for that goalie interference. As someone who’s played hockey for 25 years I fully understand you can’t see everything or call it all but I do not understand why teams can’t challenge a call

Pleasing everyone is soooo impossible, it’s like achieving world peace: it’s not going to happen.

1 and 1 yerstday 30 and 10 record in the playoff

Sorry my bad

0-2 yesterday, 33-21 overall. Picks: NYR/ COL

Ambiguous calls are one thing and I am fine with those kinds of calls being missed because they usually go both ways. But in the Oilers vs Canucks game last night, there were a couple of unambiguous calls that got missed for both sides. Two of them 4 minute majors, which I suppose you could say cancel out which was lucky for the refs. But who knows how the game would have changed if Big Z or McDavid had to serve those 4 minute majors?

There's a segment of every fanbase that believes certain officials are out to get them and/or give preferential treatment to the teams that they hate. Every. Single. Fanbase. What drives this is motivated reasoning & confirmation bias, i.e., they look for info that supports their belief & ignore anything that doesn't. It's amplified by social media due to how the algorithms work, with people funnelled into silos of like-minded individuals indulging in groupthink. Obviously, this goes on not only in the discussion about hockey officiating, but in any discussion-politics, religion, healthcare, the economy, etc. I don't see any real solution to this problem of selective perception. It's pretty much automatic. We all do it. The best we can do is occasionally pause, realize what we're doing & become more aware of it with time. Bottom line is, what's most important here is not to question others, but to question yourself. Anyway, you guys came here for hockey, not to hear crap from an idiot windbag like me who thinks he knows something. 🙃

Avs, Rangers tonight.

Most of my dislike of teams comes from how their fanbases act. Toronto would have won the trophy for worst fanbase seven years running if it was mine to award. Minnesota is a second place contender, mostly due to the old man with the ugly wife who stood up and blocked my view of the goal EVERY SINGLE TIME the puck crossed the red line. Going by their ECHL fans, I wouldn't be surprised if Utah wins for nicest fans.

Watching the only analytics people losing there minds when carolina loses is great. Eye test and analytics mixed is the answer not just one or the other .

I agree you don’t have to bring up tim sutzle being a diver because we all know it

yesterday: 1-1 overall: 24-26 today: CAR COL

Its really just Kelly Sutherland

I don't really care that much about officiating as long as all the really ratty stuff and dangerous/intent to injure stuff should always be called. Other than that I just want it to be even between both teams. And I don't mean same amount of penalties, but same line of officiating. I don't mind the refs taking a more lenient line in the playoffs either, because rules are there frankly to cut down the intensity as nobody can run through a wall for 82 games. But playoffs we want to see a battle and so far we've gotten quite a few. But also really bad calls. Most of all I don't really want everything be called.

all floppers should be called even if theres some grey area, tbh should be a 4m penalty and public shame this isnt soccer or basketball

Cold take from shannon reffing does need to be scrutinized and sometimes the fans have better judgement than the refs.

as an avs fan, the amount of complaining over the toews hits makes me feel like we forgot this was a contact sport, big cringe

When they first went to a 2 ref system I initially thought ... awesome ... one less official on the ice... nope... they kept the linesmen. Ref quality has gone down ever since and it keeps going down. And, the refs are part of the game that a team must also incorporate into their games.

i get most of my hockey news from you and Steve Dangle, I cant wait 50 minutes to get 2 minutes on the NHL from ESPN ....lol The other day Dangle put out a video about professional hockey of 3 on3 do you know where he may have gotten that information??

How’s the quality of play in the women’s league?

i've been complaining about the refs poor work in the playoffs for decades and this year, it's not as bad as it was before. it's still bad but at least they call some of the stuff and not just too many mens and puck over the glass only.

I’m not a fan of Ryan Callahan behind the microphone. There I said it.