What on earth were the refs thinking?

Tweet

Game 1, Detroit vs Calgary, third period. Dan Clearly drives the net, and plows right through Kiprusoff. Kipper does a bit of an embellishment, and two Calgary players immediately jump on Clearly and start throwing punches. Other Wings come to his aid, and other Flames jump in as well. Markov manages a diving leap on top of the pile to lend a hand. It was a scrum. It's playoff hockey, those kinds of things are expected. I'd be disappointed if it didn't happen. What got to me was how the officials handled the situation. Two linesmen are literally struggling to gain control, while the referees just stood there. Now, during a hockey fight, the officials usually each grab one, and split them that way. In bigger scrums, one official steps BETWEEN the two players to split them up. It's a signal to stop, and players respect that. Tonight, you had linesmen trying to stop just one, while the other player was free to swing or keep on roughing the other guy up. When you restrain just one of the two players in an altercation, you're essentially opening up whoever you restrain to serious injury. The other guy isn't going to stop swinging, and that can lead to major injuries. I was pretty shocked to see the refs take such a hands off approach. It was wrong, and I seriously hope that someone upstairs takes note and brings it to their attention.