In almost every second round series of this year, the refereeing has been horrendous. Tonight, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery clearly had enough of the Panthers players' alleged diving, and freaked out on the bench.
When reviewing the replay, Montgomery clearly has a point. Lohrei tied up Luostarinen in a regular hockey play, but as soon as Luostarinen felt a stick, he fell back like he had been fully assaulted.
Of course, Montgomery's charade display of the Panthers forward diving did nothing to change the referees call. Given the way the playoffs have been refereed so far, the officials are determined to abide by their complete lack of consistency. Recently, even the Bruins GM Don Sweeney called out the bizarre officiating, saying that referees should be made available to media questions.
It's another instance of a brutal dive in the NHL actually resulting in a penalty, which can alter the outcomes of games and entire seasons. The NHL referees are rightly despised by nearly every team - eventually, something has to change.
