According to Jyri Rönn, head of referees of the SM league, the amount of referee criticism has not increased since previous years.
You can listen to Urheilu’s Ice Hockey round on Wednesday on Radio Finland and Areena from 18:02. The gem of the round is the struggle between the Pelicans and the Jukurs.
Tappara head coach Rikard Grönborg was placed under disciplinary proceedings on Tuesday for unsportsmanlike behavior.
Grönborg raged before the press conference after the HIFK match. For Jyri Rönn. The Swedish coach yelled at Rönn, among other things, “painu v*****†and “stink v***u†.
Rönn did not comment on the case on Tuesday to Urheilu.
– I am not commenting on this case at this moment in any way, because the situation is under disciplinary proceedings, Rönn answered.
Grönborg has clashed with the judges many times during the season. He has criticized that the league is on a dangerous path and also received a shower command once during the season.
Grönborg stated earlier in February to Urheilu that he was getting used to the judges and their line. He denied arguing with the umpires more than others and said he wanted to make sure the umpires acted responsibly.
Last week, in addition to Grönborg, HIFK’s head coach Ville Peltonen and Jukurien Olli Jokinen criticize the judges. For example, someone has argued that the line of referees would have been more permissive in the SM league during the last month.
– Criticism is perfectly healthy in itself. When the team experiences injustice from their own point of view, criticism can come. Constructive criticism should be concrete and justified, not generalizing, says Rönn.
– People see things differently. On this side, we have emphasized with the referees all the time that the line cannot loosen together, but we try to stick to what is in common with the sports directors agreed with and committed to.
However, according to Rönni, there has been no more criticism of judges than in previous years.
– The game is intense, the situations are challenging and sometimes even the referees make mistakes. Sometimes there are slightly different views on where those interfaces go, including coaches and the sports side. However, this has not been the case any more than in previous years.
Have there been similar situations in the past in this season, that behind the scenes the referees’ activities are caught and spoken to in an inferior way?
– I still don’t take a position on any individual situation. I can say that, in general, those discussions are very constructive and normal.
– We have a good relationship with teams and players. Ice hockey is an intense game and sometimes emotions run high after the game. Then sometimes some excesses may arise, but there are hardly any situations like this, so that we would go over a good use.