Interesting story from great NHL beat guy Aaron Portzline

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mechaphil

read a few other posts about this on twitter, interesting...

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FIGHTER OF THE NIGHTMAN

"on the ice now for buffalo, looking for the pass, and gets it, afinogenov, couldnt get the shot away, now HE DOES, HE SCORES!!!! HOLY MACKEREL ROLE THE HIGH LIGHT FILM, MAXIM AFINOGENOV, WHAT A MOVE!!!!.... thats not fair... that was unbelievable"
-R.J. and Lorenz

Fire him.

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Wheelhouse

If it's true. I love it.

Some of the shit people say to officials is downright offensive even to me, and I'm pretty open about most things. I can't blame them if they fire off at obnoxious fans now and again.

i agree with tom.

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Imagine if the referee flipped off the Buffalo crowd and mocked them after that penalty wasn't called when Tyler Myers got tripped up against Florida.

You might be singing a different tune.

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Wheelhouse

if the crowd is overly obnoxious, then, no, i still think what devorski did was awesome.

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Yeah okay.

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Wheelhouse

clearly a reaction like flipping off a fan was provoked. just because you buy a ticket to a game doesnt give you the right to act like a moron, and insult and antagonize someone without consequence. these fans probably got what they deserved.

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Clearly, it was. But you can't do that to a fan base. Period. The officials are paid. The fans pay to be there. Act like a professional.

There is no way anyone here would have liked this had it happened in Buffalo following a call that should have been made.

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Wheelhouse

but it didnt

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That's all I needed to know.

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Wheelhouse

If there were drunk assholes by the glass who started yelling that they hoped the official's mothers would be 'raped by a pack of <you can probably guess>' because they missed a questionable high stick, I would support the official, against Buffalo or not.

i dont get your point. buffalo fans are not immune to karma. if some sabre fans said something that crossed a line and got a reaction, well, then im going to guess it was deserved.

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I'm kind of on the same side as Tom & Mike. Granted, they miss calls, a lot of what would seem to be against our boys on a nightly basis. But they're human too. I'm not saying I've never wished a lot of very bad things to happen to them in the heat of the game. But there is a point when a zebras gatta do, what a zebras gatta do.

I do, however, think it would be funny as old fuck if the ref went up to the glass and started giving it to the fan(s) just as hard and freaking out & shit. Then be all calm like and say, “See? That’s you. That’s what you look like”.

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If it's a tight squeeze, spit on it! - NyI

He's a middling AHL player who had the good fortune of a drunk arbitrator. - The Squanto re: Tim Kennedy

Drunk Assholes. Paid Professionals.

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Wheelhouse

I'm a paid professional as well. After I take enough bullshit from some people in the company, I snap too.

it depends on how you look at the situation.

i dont see this as a black and white situation. plenty of gray here. people snap in different ways to being heckled. look at comedian michael richards.

good on devorski, in my opinion.

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I don't think its right for any sort of official to engage the fans. They're trained not to because that only serves to exacerbate what's already a bad situation. If Devorski did do something this, I think he deserves to be disciplined.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Maybe if refs would get some fucking glasses we wouldn't be in this situation, eh?

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.