Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dciem.UUCP Path: utzoo!dciem!jeff From: jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) Newsgroups: net.sport.hockey Subject: Re: Anti-Islander bias Message-ID: <1533@dciem.UUCP> Date: Thu, 25-Apr-85 09:18:43 EST Article-I.D.: dciem.1533 Posted: Thu Apr 25 09:18:43 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 25-Apr-85 10:19:30 EST References: Reply-To: jeff@dciem.UUCP ( Richardson) Distribution: na Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada Lines: 28 Summary: > On the subject of the Islanders-Flyers - has anyone else noticed that the > Islanders never get a break from the officials this year. There were far > more penalty shots called against them than anyone else (sorry, I haven't > got the stats handy), and they always seem to get the borderline calls > against them. I realize I have a biased view but still ... Is the > league actively against them? And why? I haven't noticed any anti-Islander bias myself (I haven't really seen them play enough though), but other than the fact that a lot of people hate Billy Smith, I can think of a good reason for the league to be against the Islanders: They've won the Stanley Cup four of the last five years, and it's time for some other teams to get a crack at it. Only 9 of the 21 NHL teams have ever won the cup, and in the 18 years since expansion, only 5 different teams have won it (Montreal 8 times, Islanders 4, Boston & Philadelphia 2 each and Edmonton 1). That means that in 16 of the 21 NHL cities (counting the New Yorks at separate), there are a large number of grown-up hockey fans that have never seen their team win the cup, and most of these don't even have a significant regular season or playoff success to show for their years of devotion. I know the best team deserves to win and biased officiating is no way to equalise teams, but it's easy to lose interest watching the same team win year after year while you can't see any hope of your team challenging them in the forseeable future. One of the biggest problems with the NHL, in my opinion, is that with very few exceptions the good teams stay good while the bad teams stay bad. -- Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073 {linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsrgv!dciem!jeff {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeff