# Hockey Skills Competition tonite



## Geezerette (Jan 25, 2019)

On NBCSN (sports network) & I think the hockey all star competitions are tomorrow 1/26. From San Jose "Shark Tank" 7 pm mountain time here.
Any other hockey fans here? Saw a game on tv recently I enjoyed so much. AZ Coyotes vs Pgh Penguins. So clean, fast, well matched. Pens won in overtime. Both play clean unless they are defending against a dirty team. I hate dirty hockey where they are doing all kinds of nasty stuff that maybe the fans & refs don't see but the cameras catch it.


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## oldman (Jan 27, 2019)

I used to officiate NCAA hockey in the Big Ten, Ohio Valley Conference and the Big East. In the early 80’s, I was officiating a game between Michigan and Ohio State. The score was 3-2 with 2 minutes remaining in the third period. OS had lost two players for penalties. Michigan had just intercepted a pass and went into transition towards the OS goalie. I wanted to get to the boards because these guys can fly on the ice and I wanted to get my butt out of the way. All of a sudden, I see what appeared to be an Ogre. I mean this dude was big. He ran into me head on and sat me right down so hard that I bent my Coccyx (tailbone). 

I went to the hospital and after about being there for 5 hours, the neurologist told me that he could remove it, but he needed to advise me that there is a small nerve that runs alongside that bone and if he would happen to just nick it, I would be wearing a colostomy bag the rest of my life. Needless to say, I retired as a hockey official.


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## Geezerette (Jan 28, 2019)

Wow! You made a good decision! Hope you're not still having pain from that. The refs do seem to take a beating sometimes! I don't know if they fight as much in college hockey, but I feel sorry for refs when they have to break up fights, with the gloves & sticks flying. The all star game was fun to watch too, seeing the players happy & smiling & talking with each other.


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