Don Cherry calls out the officiating in the Stanley cup playoffs.

The National Hockey League's Conference Finals have seen a not insignificant drop in their ratings this year, with reports of some games dropping by over 50% in terms of viewership, and although there are going to be a ton of contributing factors given the circumstances I have to wonder if the way the game is being officiated may be one of those factors. 

Legendary National Hockey League analyst Don Cherry made comments on his most recent podcast that clearly indicated at least one hockey fan is unhappy with the way the game is being called. Cherry went off on a rant about the linesmen, their behavior during icing calls, the way the league's official handle faceoffs these days, and more. 

"The linesmen just drive me nuts," said Cherry. "Throwing them out of the faceoffs, the icings are a joke now."

Prior to the start of the playoffs Cherry had made comments regarding the officiating and had even indicated that he felt it could be the one thing that would ruin the playoffs. Cherry feared that the referees calling soft penalties, or what he refers to as "chintzy penalties" could derail the whole Stanley Cup tournament and on his podcast he made it clear he feels that is exactly what is happening in these Conference Finals.

"I said at the start of the playoffs, what really bothers me is I have a feeling the referees are gonna call chintzy penalties and I'll be a son of a gun do they call chintz penalties," said Cherry. "Chintzy penalties in the playoffs!" he exclaimed.

Cherry seemed bewildered by the fact that the officials weren't calling games this way earlier on in the tournament, but appear to have cracked down considerably as the tournament has progressed.

"At the start I was saying I like the way they are refereeing. Now, like last night I think there was 10 power plays last night, absolutely ridiculous. Between the guys calling these icings and the guys calling the chintz penalties it is not entertaining hockey."

To be completely fair to the officials here Cherry did lay some of the blame at the feet of the players, but it also seems pretty obvious to me that Cherry believes it is the officials responsibility not to play into those type of tactics. 

"Guys just get touched in the mouth and it looks like somebody had taken them out," said Cherry. "Snapping their heads back and the referees bite, the referees bite! I can't believe the referees bite on that stuff."

Do you agree with Cherry's take? Has the officiating impacted your enjoyment of the games? Let us know your thoughts in the comemnts.