I don’t understand how someone can push the referee or knock him down and there is no visible attempt to avoid him. Also, the disciplinarian has already issued four two-game penalties for that (O. Kaše, Mikliš, Frolík, Macuh) and I wouldn’t say that they are incorrect. Some interventions are on the verge of injuring the referee.
It bothers me that in these cases it was not at all visible that the player in question wanted to do his best at the last moment to avoid the referee. Players should realize how vulnerable the referee is when he is not expecting a collision.
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Physical assault on the referees of Spartan player MiklišVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
With my eyes closed, I can understand the intervention of Bohumil Janek on Petr Holík, although I agree that it was brutal. But it was a player-on-player intervention. But if we don’t have respect for referees, we will knock them down and push them, we have crossed an imaginary threshold. And there will have to be much harsher punishments to make those concerned realize that it really doesn’t work that way.
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Hradec Králové – Brno, Jank finished after a foul on HolíkVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
The second thing is that we can hear from some players that lately referees have been climbing into places where they shouldn’t be standing. Yes, it’s their fault, they shouldn’t be standing so close to fights where players are traveling at full speed.
The player cannot completely dodge at the last moment, but he is still well aware that he is next to the referee. And he should do everything for a partial dodge or bounce to help the referee and not knock him down. I have not seen this in any of the recent cases.
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Litvínovský Ondřej Kaše shot down the refereeVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
I understand when I read about Litvínov’s appeal against Ondřej Kaše’s penalty, because from the video it seems that Kaše was spotted and didn’t notice the referee. Still, it shouldn’t happen to him. A player, especially with such experience, should perceive the events on the ice as a whole.
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Olomouc Macuh sent the referee to the iceVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
But what was completely over the line was the attack on the linesman by Pilsen’s Mertl on Sunday. It was visible that there was a verbal exchange of opinions regarding the throw-in, but even so, Mertl must not allow himself to push the referee. He should accept the role of referees on the ice.
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Kladenský Frolík knocked down the refereeVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
Swearing is understandable. The fact that players and referees sometimes scold each other like fools or even more harshly, simply happened, happens and will happen. But physical contact cannot be tolerated.
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Pilsen – Třinec, Mertl attacked the referee and finished the gameVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
If I were in Viktor Ujčík’s position, I would give Mertl four matches as the chief disciplinarian. It was a targeted push and attack by the referee, which is really over the edge. Mertl wanted to do it. He knew why he was doing it. He just couldn’t stand it.
Milan Antoš
Milan Antoš is a former hockey forward, today a co-commentator for CT. He played twelve seasons in the Czech extra league, playing for Slavia, Pilsen, Jihlava and Ústí nad Labem. He won the title with Pražany in 2003 and silver a year later, and won bronze with West Bohemia in 2000.
