NHL referees deal with abuse from coaches, players, fans and even the media. It was only a matter of time until one of the skating zebras decided to strike back.
In a contest between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, we saw first hand how sick of the abuse NHL officials are.
24-year-old centre Cedric Paquette was clipped with an elbow that resulted in a non-call from the official. Ryan Callahan seemed to be clipped as well with a stick after being hit in the corner, once again resulting in a non-call. These incidents happened seconds from one another, on the same shift. So, Paquette did what any normal hockey player what do after an official misses a call: he threw his glove at the referee!
Cedric Paquette throws his glove at the ref in protest, then the ref returns the favour by chucking the glove back at him ??? pic.twitter.com/AoNPaAWB1W
— Kliff’s Bedroom (@KliffsBedroom) February 27, 2018
On the bench and still visibly angry, Paquette and Callahan were shouting. Referee Gord Dwyer, who the glove was launched at, skated past the irate Lightning talent and chucked the glove right back at them. The glove went straight down into the bench, so it isn’t known whether the ref was trying to throw it at the two angered forwards. Either way, Callahan sprung off the bench and began shouting once again, while Paquette joined him.
It was a strange sequence of events, but it’s evident that referees are able to handle verbal jabs – just don’t toss a sweaty mitt at them!
