Bobby Ryan had a forgettable game against Nashville last night. Ryan finished the night with no points, a minus-1 rating, and three minor penalties, the last of which led to the Predators game-clinching empty net goal.
With a hat trick like that, you couldn’t blame Ryan for being upset with how he played. He decided to take his frustrations out on the officials instead, telling Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register that the men in stripes have a lot of work to do.
“Oh, it’s been horrendous from an inconsistent standpoint,” Ryan said. “You almost don’t know what you get. You’ve got to wave a white towel almost. It’s upsetting. It is what it is.”
Waving a white towel is what Roger Neilson did while coach in Vancouver years ago to “surrender” to officials, a sweet hockey history reference by Ryan if that’s what he intended.
Hearing complaints about officiating is becoming commonplace in Anaheim as we’ve heard coach Bruce Boudreau sound off on two different occasions about the refs. The Ducks aren’t going to be making the playoffs and getting frustrated over it is part of the story, but a quick way to guarantee not getting the benefit of the doubt in calls is to point out what a bad job the referees are doing. Leave that stuff to the fans.
