Playoff Officiating mindsets...

[CTLaxer]

Scenario is it's the post season. Quarterfinals and Semifinals. Do you as an official let most of the minor calls with no real effect on the play go and come down on the serious/obvious/safety stuff or do you call everything regardless?

[shrekjr]

I try to call every game the same regardless of regular season or playoffs. Let them play and decide the outcome, I'll handle the safety and advantage by cheating.

Except for men's club summer league, we don't worry about the safety as much...no shoulder or arm pads, no blood, no foul.

[LaxRef]

Scenario is it's the post season. Quarterfinals and Semifinals. Do you as an official let most of the minor calls with no real effect on the play go and come down on the serious/obvious/safety stuff or do you call everything regardless?

I think I let them play a bit more because they're better teams and they're capable of doing it, but I'll never buy into that "Well, it's the playoffs (or overtime) so you can't call any fouls" mentality. If there's a legitimate foul, it will get called.

I will say that overtime is probably not the time to extra-vigilant about, say, mouthguards.

[laxfan25]

Having just completed the college tournament this past weekend, I would say that the tendency is to "let them play" a little bit more than the regular season. The biggest variance though is at the different levels, MS, HS JV, HS, College. If kids watch a college game and expect to be able to get away with the same type of stuff, it won't happen.

[Snake~eyes]

Here's my opinion and LaxRef kind of hit on it a little bit. I would not worry about what the game is titled. Whether it's Championship or season opener. You have to officiate each and every game differently, the style of the game. Generally when you are in the playoffs you have bettter teams and you are going to let them play a little more. But the point is, even if you had those teams in the regular season, it should be officiated the same.

[Woodenstick]

Laxref mentioned overtime, which I think is a more prevailing attitude change than playoffs. I think sometimes referees swallow their whistle at the end of the game or in OT because they are afraid of deciding the game with a penalty call. Of course, by swallowing the whistle, they have still influenced the game, just not in a good way. Most of the time the fouling team earns an unfair advantage by fouling without getting called for it. If somebody deserves a penalty, give it to them.

[LaxRef]

Laxref mentioned overtime, which I think is a more prevailing attitude change than playoffs. I think sometimes referees swallow their whistle at the end of the game or in OT because they are afraid of deciding the game with a penalty call. Of course, by swallowing the whistle, they have still influenced the game, just not in a good way. Most of the time the fouling team earns an unfair advantage by fouling without getting called for it. If somebody deserves a penalty, give it to them.

One of my favorite exchanges (heard during a hockey broadcast):

Announcer 1: "They're really letting them play."

Announcer 2: "Well, they're letting one guy play. The other guy is getting the crap beaten out of him!"

To not call an obvious foul is to influence the outcome as surely as calling something that's not a foul. Your role is more obvious when you call a foul in overtime, but IMHO if you don't have the guts to make the call when you need to then you shouldn't be out there.

I can maybe see letting some procedural violations slide in OT (e.g., you suddenly notice for the first time in OT that #31 has non-matching compression shorts), but you need to be willing to call any violation that presents an advantage or safety issue.

[blindbill]

I would think that you run more of a risk of influencing the outcome of the game if you change your Modus Operendi (sp?) in OT.

By the end of the 1st quarter, good teams will have sized up the referees and adjusted their game accordingly. Now, if you, all of a sudden (because it is now overtime) decide to change your MO, (ie. no call unless you see blood, after calling a relative tight game), the team that unknowingly stumbles onto your changed MO gains an advantage and THEN you have, arguably, had an influence on the outcome of the game.

[Stubs]

How about this one. During a play-off game, you notice the White defenseman has a cut-down mouth guard, such that his front teeth are all that are covered. You decide, "Hey, no big deal. Let 'em play."

Tie score with :58 left, and the Red captain comes up during a dead ball, and says "I notice White #7 has a partial mouth guard. I assume you are going to call a penalty on him, right?"

Or maybe Red has used two time outs when the Red captain asks for an equipment check on White #7.

By not calling the penalty early in the game when you first noticed the infraction, you may have handed the Red team a victory.

[EdT]

How about this one. During a play-off game, you notice the White defenseman has a cut-down mouth guard, such that his front teeth are all that are covered. You decide, "Hey, no big deal. Let 'em play."

Tie score with :58 left, and the Red captain comes up during a dead ball, and says "I notice White #7 has a partial mouth guard. I assume you are going to call a penalty on him, right?"

Or maybe Red has used two time outs when the Red captain asks for an equipment check on White #7.

By not calling the penalty early in the game when you first noticed the infraction, you may have handed the Red team a victory.

If it wasn't a big deal when you noticed it, it is certainly not a big deal now. No call.

[CTLaxer]

If it wasn't a big deal when you noticed it, it is certainly not a big deal now. No call.

Uhh...I'm glad you're not officiating in my league.

Just because you noticed it previously and decided to not call anything (you should've made a call or atleast a warning) doesn't mean that you can disregard an equipment check upon said player called by the opposing team, especially when everyone is watching you do the equipment check and can see for themselves.