Flyers rookie Porter Martone gets blatantly disrespected by NHL referee

Whenever a player debuts in any professional sport, calls tend not to go in their favor at the beginning. Regardless of the unfairness of it all, most times that is the case. They haven't "earned the respect" or whatever other reason that can be made up.

And for Porter Martone, that was no truer than in his second NHL game for the Flyers. There were multiple instances in which Martone was punished for rather unreasonable things. If it had been one call, it could've simply been viewed as a coincidence. But when one referee is involved with a player multiple times and goes as far as grabbing the player by the jersey to yell at him, it becomes way more than that.

Before getting into that, the Flyers and Red Wings were involved in a normal after-the-whistle scrum in the first period. A penalty could've been called on Travis Konecny for taking the helmet off David Perron. But the referees let that one go. Martone skated in and pushed Lucas Raymond in the back, and was taken for cross-checking. It was a rather ticky-tack call after what wasn't called.

Referee seemingly goes on power trip in confrontation with Martone

Fast forward to the second period, and Martone was interfered with multiple times by and even elbowed by Albert Johansson. However, the arms stayed down. Like any player, Martone wanted to know what happened. During a break in the action after the play was whistled for offside, he skated over toward Cody Beach, the main referee for the game. Beach had already made questionable calls before this and had to know there was frustration.

But instead of getting a calm explanation as to what happened, Martone was instead grabbed by the back of the jersey and, understandably, was confused at the situation. He pulled back, clearly not understanding what was going on. Beach appears to yank him slightly and has some colorful words for him instead. Martone rightfully wanted to know why there was no penalty in a situation that certainly warranted it.

But instead, he was reprimanded for even asking the question. Even if Beach was upset with some of the reactions from the players and Rick Tocchet, he didn't need to take it out on Martone.

It wasn't the only questionable call or no-call. We could be here all night if we talked about how the referees had a huge impact on this game. But this is about the way Martone was treated. Regardless of who he is or how many games he's played in the league, he deserved to be treated with respect. Yes, Martone put his arms out after the whistle to signify his annoyance with the no-call. So would any other player in that situation. But he comes calmly to discuss things afterward, simply wanting a discussion. Nothing wrong with that.

It's a small moment in a game, but there was no place for it regardless. Hopefully, Martone was eventually given some kind of explanation for what happened.