amount of time a ref can check one players stick

[Longislandlax05]

today i had a game and at half time the ref took one players stick and checked it. he came over to him and said the width was 1/8 inch to narrow and he just let it go. during a time out the same ref asked for his stick again and checked it. during the game it became more pinched and was 1/4 of an inch to narrow ref called it illegal and 3 minute non-releasable penalty. I think that is unfair and against the rules. any opinions?

[3rdPersonPlural]

How would it be 'against the rules'? Can you cite anything?

[Woodenstick]

The same player may be checked multple times.

[LaxRef]

today i had a game and at half time the ref took one players stick and checked it. he came over to him and said the width was 1/8 inch to narrow and he just let it go. during a time out the same ref asked for his stick again and checked it. during the game it became more pinched and was 1/4 of an inch to narrow ref called it illegal and 3 minute non-releasable penalty. I think that is unfair and against the rules. any opinions?

I agree that it was unfair of your teammate to play with a stick that was illegal. It is good that he was penalized.

[laxsavage]

I agree that it was unfair of your teammate to play with a stick that was illegal. It is good that he was penalized.

Hahaha! :chuckle: that's great! Your teammate should have changed his stick after the first check found it to be illegal, nuff said.

[Longislandlax05]

yea but the ref said it was ok and to take care of it after the game. but theres no rule for how many times a ref can check one players stick?

[LaxRef]

yea but the ref said it was ok and to take care of it after the game. but theres no rule for how many times a ref can check one players stick?

None whatsoever.

[Prof. Mushroom]

If the stick was legal, it shouldn't matter how many times the ref checks the stick, because there should be no worries, right?
Besides, if the ref knew the stick was illegal, but borderline,and he let it pass, he would probably want to check it later in the game anyway to see if it had become even more pinched.
The Prof.

[lehighvalleylax]

If the stick was legal, it shouldn't matter how many times the ref checks the stick, because there should be no worries, right?
Besides, if the ref knew the stick was illegal, but borderline,and he let it pass, he would probably want to check it later in the game anyway to see if it had become even more pinched.
The Prof.

IMO, the ref was wrong for telling him it was illegal but only a "little bit". He could have said, "its getting close, be careful" or something like that. Its like when a ref yells "get stick", he is basically saying "that was a slash, but I'm letting it go. Don't do it again."

Make the call or don't. Slash or not. Illegal stick or not.

Now I'm not saying I'm calling a 1/8" off stick. But I am saying, I'm not telling the kid it is illegal but ok for now.

IMO

[LaxRef]

IMO, the ref was wrong for telling him it was illegal but only a "little bit". He could have said, "its getting close, be careful" or something like that. Its like when a ref yells "get stick", he is basically saying "that was a slash, but I'm letting it go. Don't do it again."

Make the call or don't. Slash or not. Illegal stick or not.

Now I'm not saying I'm calling a 1/8" off stick. But I am saying, I'm not telling the kid it is illegal but ok for now.

IMO

I agree that you should never say, "it's illegal but I'm letting it go." That was the official's real mistake. "Very close" is a much better thing to say.

But "get stick" can mean, "You're getting close to it being a slash, although that wasn't a slash yet" and is good preventative officiating. Consider the following options:

(1) Hits arm. "Get stick." Doesn't hit arm again.
(2) Hits arm."Get stick." Hits arm again harder. Flag.

vs.

(A) Hits arm. Say nothing. Hits arm again harder. Flag.

If you warn, maybe you have no flag, and if you do, the coach thinks the player's an idiot, not you. Well, maybe both of you.

If you don't warn, you have no chance of preventing everything, and when you throw the flag Team B thinks they're getting screwed because they had no idea where your threshold is.

I used to think warning was a bad idea, but now I think it's good game management, provided it's not:

(i) Hits arm."Get stick." Hits arm again harder. "Get stick." Hits arm again harder. "Get stick." Hits arm again harder. Coach: "How many warnings does he get!?"