Ryan Murphy played his heart and soul out for the Lewiston Maineiacs. He was a member of the first team to skate at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, one of the six players to remain on the ice after the famed brawl with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in December of 2003, and a beloved returning player skating for an opposing team when he came back the following year.

His brother even tried out with the Maineiacs last season, and he had the chance to come back for a visit, a chance he welcomed.

It’s too bad, then, that his name may forever be sullied by another person known by the same configuration of letters of the alphabet.

The Ryan Murphy of whom I speak is an official, and I use that term loosely.

Less than one year ago, I used this space to discuss the fall of one of the league’s better officials, Nicolas Dutil. Known for a couple of bad calls in the team’s first playoff appearance – one that included the Maineiacs’ Ryan Murphy – Dutil cruised through a few seasons as one of the better officials in the league.

Then, last February, with the league’s director of officiating watching, Dutil messed up. Badly.

At the time, I made a plea to the league to establish some sort of review process, to hold officials accountable if they make serious errors in judgment. By that, I don’t mean, “Oh, he missed a call on a hooking infraction in the second period, so he needs to sit for three games.” Let’s face it. Referees and linesmen are human, and while their job is to be accurate, the all-too-human mistakes will, at times, pop up.

Thursday night’s game against Chicoutimi reaffirmed my belief that there needs to be a series of checks and balances involved in the refereeing system in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Ryan Murphy, the official, lost control of the game early, and, apparently using predisposed notions of how the game should turn out, turned the Sagueneens’ power play loose on Lewiston.

And we can go call by call.

Garrett Clarke called for holding at 6:13 of the second period: Murphy likely had the better angle on this one. I don’t mind so much a call in this situation.

Last year, I explained that having done radio commentary for a while, even when I disagreed with a call, I would generally argue that even though the player in question may not have actually committed the infraction, he had put himself into a position where the official could have construed that action as a penalty.

In hockey, that happens a lot, and this was one of those instances.

Michael Chaput, called for goaltender interference at 6:38 of the second period: This one made no sense. With the Maineiacs on a short-handed rush, Chaput took a pass and tried to redirect it past the goalie. The netminder made the save, and Chaput stopped on a dime, on the right side of the crease.

The keeper’s momentum carried him into Chaput, who was then carted off for interference – after the save.

After the game, Maineiacs’ coach Ed Harding expressed his frustration, saying that his team wasn’t “just playing against Chicoutimi, there were other elements to overcome.”

“To put a team on a 5-on-3 with a call like this is ridiculous,” Harding said.

He’s right.

A scrum near the end of the second period produced an extra roughing minor to Lewiston, which always seems to end up on the short end of the penalty stick when it comes to scrums, and the Sags “earned” their sixth power play when Eric Gelinas connected on a solid stick check to an opponents stick and received a slashing minor.

The count at that time? Chicoutimi 6, Lewiston 2.

Even Chicoutimi coach Richard Martel said after the game that the officiating was “interesting, but that’s another story.”

This is a guy who was coaching in his 1,001st QMJHL hockey game Thursday, and even he was bewildered. But at least he had the chance to speak with Murphy, the official.

Not once during the game did our man in stripes even once approach the Maineiacs’ bench to give Harding an explanation. While I agree that respect in this league must be earned, and not commanded, it would appear to me that common courtesy would apply here. If you’re going to speak to one coach about a call or two, you should be able to speak to both, regardless of the situation.

When I brought this issue up last season, I said that perhaps the problem is within the league. There is no more “perhaps.”

The QMJHL is not only a training ground for players, but for officials, as well, but there has to be a system of checks in place, and the will to suspend or otherwise discipline officials when they do something wrong, instead of trotting them out week after week, like nothing has happened.

Mr. Murphy should be whistled for bias.

And for sullying the name of a decent, hard-working former Maineiac.