Hey Ref! The Trailer Park Called, and They Can't Find Their Trash!

No Sir.  I can't explain why it's goalie interference on you
and not on them....

One of my great hopes as a long term Blue Jackets fan is that some day I will abandon the notion that it is plausible to communicate on a one on one basis with the referees from the upper bowl.  I'm pretty sure that this notion is stupid, but I can't say that I'm a true believer.  Nonetheless, it remains an elusive area of personal improvement, and when confronted with situations like tonight's game it must be confessed that my fall is rapid and complete.

When faced with a personal failure of such magnitude, it is important to rapidly deflect and or assign blame elsewhere.  Here 'Hockey Bob' comes to my rescue.  Hockey Bob, as quoth his jersey, was apparently an old Chill fan, and in the early days when our tickets were still in section 210 Hockey Bob and his minions were still bellowing 'give him a groin injury!!' with all the wrong inflection.  A personal favorite Hockey Bob chant of mine was ' We Want...Free Beer'!!!  Well duh!  That will make an entertaining hockey game!  Then one memorable day I was to receive a copy of his list of 'cheers'.  Many of them were too long to be effective, but the title was one that seemed relatively pertinent.  And here I was tonight, quizzing the ref on waste disposal once more.

This all seems ungrateful for a team that tied the game late, then won it in overtime.  The CBJ were able to rise above the officiating by making 'no-doubt' goals to tie, and then win the game. The officials may have had a less than stellar outing, but it didn't decide the game, which is all you are looking for in some ways, unless you are old and cynical fans, and then you assume the worst anyway.

The CBJ were somehow able to overcome several institutional (the Flyers) obstacles and non institutional obstacles (the Referees) to gain a victory.  But that doesn't mean I didn't take the opportunity to attempt to advise the non-institutional obstacles of their personal inefficiency.  But that is a personal problem.  The important thing for tonight is an Eastern Conference win.  It wasn't easy, but that is what overtime is for.  Well done to the CBJ for closing that deal!!

GO JACKETS!!