Well the plan was

Just like the Penguin fans hate the Rangers players....but not nearly as much as we hate the Flyers players.

Nancy, still amazed a "Pittsburgher" scored a goal in Olympic hockey

I suppose I could check into that for you. I would imagine they'd have *some* sort of celebration when they get back! :)

Joan

LOL....sounds like if you don't like 'em you 'hate' 'em! We should see some good hockey at the Olympics in the next few days. Of course you'll have to close your eyes when Orpik steps on the ice for the US! :)

Mavia

I was just thinking about this do we "hate" Pittsburg more or less than New Jersey"? it's a tough call.

-Margaret in MA and also a Rangers fan.

Right on the money...

Loving the hockey - no fights

I actually like the non US/no Canada match ups better.

We were joking DS or DD could play for Germany - they're both second gen Germans

HMM - Devils do rank up there in "don't like them" list..

Isn't the no fights wonderful? It's a lot more fun that way.

-Margaret in MA

It's great. All hockey. When we're watching NHL, DM groans every time she sees the fighting. And she's been watching hockey since the late 40s when Pgh had an AHL team.

Nancy,again amazed a "Pittsburgher" is leading the US in scoring

Technically, there is no checking in ladies, but let me tell you, there's plenty of contact

Hey, body contact is allowed, using the body for position, etc.... After all, they do wear pads. As you go up the ladder in level, and the high skill tiers, you really do see significant contact. The hard thing is that in areas where there aren't a lot of girls/women's hockey, finding officials that actually know how to correctly call and allow body contact - which is more than just an "incidental" bump. Checking, well, they get to use 2 strides, and drop a shoulder...Body contact not so. But it gets really physical. USAH and CAHA did films a few years back for training officials so that they could understand what body contact is allowed, and recognize it

- which can get quite strong, and surprising to people who don't know this and think only little bumps are allowed.

Ellice

Depends on the ref - some call checking when there is a size mismatch which makes things tough on the big girls. DD is 5'4" and no sign of slowing down. Which makes playing with teams made up of tiny girls, who may actually be as young as 8 playing as under-12s, very hard on the ones who are 11,12 or just turning 13 with the new year and have hit the growth spurt years.

And if I thought the reffing was lousy during the tournament (with a ref that did exactly that, call a check or holding every time a big girl was on a little girl....the officials last night truly stunk up the place.

Yup, that's part of the point. With the lower age groups, lower levels it's likely that the ref base is wider, not so select. Around here, with the "big girls", particularly the games with teams that play the MidWest league, and the Junior women's there's a fair amount of discretion by the scheduler in trying to be sure the officials working those games have the experience, eye, sense of what is supposed to be allowed. But, judgement is a tough thing with the growth mismatches. What parents see and what is seen at speed on the ice are regularly different things, as you well know.

In youth checking groups, personally, I think that Bantams (which are U-14) is the worst, along with high school - especially JV, because you have the male growth mismatch. You'll see 6' kids with 5'2 kids in full check. So it's important to be able to see the difference between a legal check, and a taking advantage intent to knock someone out of the game, time zone, or a charge, a board, etc.

That's unfortunate. But, y'know, if your affiliate isn't happy with how the girls' tourneys are being officiated, the recourse is for the clubs/affiliate to discuss it with the local Ref In Chief and ref asso. A couple of years we've done some mini-seminars, or had this as the topic at ref asso meetings.

It's still always frustrating.

Actually, last night's game was "middle school" which is a mix of mostly PeeWees with a few 8th grade Bantams mixed in. One ref couldn't keep up with the play - even when shifts went too long and the kids were panting.... C