Veteran sports reporter and West Hartford resident Paul Palmer wrote this editorial after reporting on Conard High School’s victory in the CIAC Division III boys hockey championship game on March 22, 2025.

By Paul Palmer

Let me be clear, being a high school official in any sport is challenging. Not only for what’s happening in the game but dealing with comments from fans and probably players and coaches too.

The men and women who sign up and spend their time running and up and down fields and skating on sheets of ice deserve thanks for what they do. No one is going to get rich doing it, and most do it for the love of the game and so that student athletes can play.

That being said, there are fair expectations that players and coaches should expect from these officials. They are being paid and they are trained, so there are standards. For the most part, officials do a good job. Of course people will always find things they were not happy with about how a game was officiated, but in reality, they get most of the calls right and give the athletes the chance to compete.

Expectations are, and should be, highest when it comes to a State Tournament Championship Game. Teams have worked hard for months, overcome injuries, and made sacrifices to get to that one game. They are at their best and they deserve that their officials be at their best, too.

And before you think this is being written by someone who doesn’t know anything about officiating let me share my credentials: I have coached youth soccer, played high school and college soccer, officiated high school swim meets, and am a certified national swim official who has worked decks with international teams, as well as swimmers who go on to the Olympics. Yes, we miss things, but we all do our best and the most important thing is to be fair, protect the athletes, and keep the competition safe. I have covered most high school sports, every major professional sport, and have spent almost 40 years covering local, national, and international sports.

In short, an official should not be the topic of conversation after any game, let alone a championship. When they become invisible and are not the focus of attention, they have done their jobs well. Saturday’s D III Boys Hockey Championship between Conard and JWBA (the Joel Barlow-Weston-Abbot Technical High School co-op) was an example of what happens when officials lose control and let the game get away from them.

In the first period, calls were made and each team spent time in the penalty box. There really wasn’t anything anyone could complain about as the calls were fair. But a disturbing trend was also building in the game. It was a physical game – nothing wrong with that within the limits of the rules – and there were several instances of players being held, put in headlocks, and hit late. None of them were called, and that sends a message to the players that they can get away with things, and unfortunately that is just what happened Saturday.

The second period of the game was at times an embarrassment. Players who were knocked down by a check locked their legs around players from the other team so they could not skate away. Players were literally put in headlocks and on occasion driven to the ice in a headlock with no calls for either. What had been a hard checking game became a dangerous game as both Conard and Barlow upped the physical play, often going beyond what is legal – but the officials seemed to have swallowed their whistles. Late slashes, retaliatory hits, and cross checks were not called and the level of these plays only increased. There was not a single penalty called in the second period.

In the third period, with the game on the line and emotions riding high, things got out of hand. At least one player was hit high by an opponent who left his feet to get the shot on him, sending the recipient sprawling to the ice, unable to get back on his feet. At one point he crawled to his bench and official was standing right over him but failed to stop play.

Instead, the referees turned to calling matching penalties – taking one player from each team off the ice each time. There is no message in that as neither team is punished and each continues to play at full strength. It also does not punish the aggressor but instead rewards them for being able to draw a response from the other player. Yes, players are responsible for their own behavior and yes, a retaliatory penalty should be called. But when it is 3-on-1 – as happened two times – a pair of matching penalties is not the answer.

Late in the third, four or five players from the two teams got tangled up with punches, shoving, helmets being knocked off heads, and the players ending up in a tangle on the ice while officials had to come in and separate them. Again, it was matching penalties that were called. Things got so bad that with 56 seconds to play, a Barlow player was given a 10-minute misconduct and Conard took a timeout during which the on-ice officials were seen talking with someone from the CIAC – an unusual occurrence during any game let alone a championship game.

Gonna go out on a limb here saying this is an embarrassing end to any game let alone a State Championship game. Now some getting escorted off the ice with 56.2 seconds left #cthk

— Conard Hockey (@Conard_Hockey) March 22, 2025

The lack of calls and the swallowing of whistles leads to two troubling things. One is it takes a bit of the shine off a championship game and the players involved. They want to be remembered for getting to and playing in the game, not that nonsense. Secondly, players can and will get hurt. When clean hits and physical play cross the line into cheap shots and plays they can and do injure, things have gotten out of hand and officials need to stop it. It is too late, though, when you allow things to go on for two periods and let players know that they can cross the line and push boundaries.

Officials need to set the tone of the game from the opening whistle and they need to be consistent. Talk with any player or coach and ask them what they want to see from officials. The answer is universally for the calls to be consistent so players know from the start what they can expect.

No official ever gives a partial effort and they do their best, but when they are struggling and creating scenes like we saw Saturday, things need to get better. The players and coaches need to take their share of responsibility as well. But the CIAC needs to do better not only by its teams and players, but also by its officials.

Editor’s Note: Paul Palmer is a veteran sportswriter and reporter, as well as an official and former coach, who has been covering high school sports in West Hartford for We-Ha.com for several years. The opinions expressed are his own.

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