Philadelphia Flyers: Commentator Keith Jones Hints at Referee Bias

During the telecast of the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, Flyers color commentator Keith Jones made an interesting observation that I had never heard before.

Kris Versteeg was called for a slashing penalty on Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller and play-by-play announcer Jim Jackson and fellow color commentator Steve Coates disagreed with the call because the whistle wasn’t blown.

Then Jones added this statement:

“It really falls into the Sabres battling for the playoffs and everybody knows where they’re sitting. Their effort is going to be rewarded and the referees have a tendency to know exactly who’s standing where in the standings. And right now that doesn’t bode well for the Flyers because of their high position in the Eastern Conference.”

I have heard NHL referees accused of many things before and those accusations are quite often coming from my mouth. They often times appear to have biases toward players, teams, the score, the number of penalties called, and the amount of time left in the game.

And we all know the clichés about referees “putting their whistle away” late in the game and the “make up calls” when teams are shorthanded several times in row. They are clichés because they are true.

But calling penalties based on which team needs to win more? Well, this was news to me.  

Now Jones isn’t known for hyperbole or trying to cause a stir, like say Mike Milbury, and he played in the league for 10 seasons so you have to think he has experienced this, or heard about it, firsthand.

Which leads me to the obvious question—Why would a referee be concerned with the current standings?

Well, the easiest answer would be because it’s a mandate from the NHL.

Who benefits more from a close playoff race than the league? A contested battle for the last playoff spot means higher stakes, higher intensity and, most importantly, higher television ratings.

That being said, some will decide to call this a conspiracy theory. However, this allegation didn’t come from some random guy sitting on his couch, spouting off about his take on the game. It came from an analyst who has been involved in professional hockey for 20 years.

Nevertheless, even if it’s true it merely adds another layer of ridiculousness to the NHL refereeing system that is questioned more and more every year. Adding an on-ice official to every game has only served to make things more inconsistent and allegations of league-oriented bias isn’t going to help their image.

Former NHL referee, now Director of Officiating, Terry Gregson is also struggling to replace recently retired, trusted veterans such as Kerry Fraser and Dan Marouelli. They weren’t perfect, but at least they were consistent enough to be well respected.

Who would have thought that I’d find myself longing for the days of Don Koharski and one of his donuts?  

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