As others have said, I don't think we can attribute the result tonight to the shocking refereeing that took place - ultimately the Steelers were more clinical with the opportunities they were given, and on that basis I think they deserved to win.
That said, I don't think I've ever seen such a poor display from a referee before in any sport. I wonder if it's down to the fact that when a team like Sheffield, who aren't particularly popular with us Cardiff fans, comes into the BBT the refs know the fans are going to be on their backs all night and end up overcompensating by being harsher on our boys. Could be wrong, but I can't think of any other reason why the refs were so keen to call penalties on us when there was just as many (if not more) of the exact same fouls being committed by Sheffield.
The fact that Haddad was given a penalty for tripping when he was just competing for the puck against the boards felt like a slap in the face given how many times their players were tripping ours in the corners or on the charge.
And as for Hudson's goal and what took place after, that was abysmal. Firstly, I don't know why the goal wasn't given - did they rule that there was goalkeeper interference or something? From where we were sat, it looked a great goal, but obviously it was chalked off. That in itself I could take, but what happened after was bloody disgraceful - I assume from what others have said on here it was Roy on Lord, as I couldn't make out who it was exactly that was involved, but to throw down an opposing player face first into the ice while they're celebrating (and completely unawares) is, quite frankly, disgusting. No wonder it sparked a reaction from Hoth, and for the refs to miss that and then call a penalty on Hotham and Fitzgerald for a complete non-fight where Fitzgerald got more handsy with the linesman than anyone else was appalling.
I'm not one to call players out for getting banned - if you play hard, that's fine by me, but what Roy did was completely out of order and I hope that he is picked up for it. Yes, hockey's a physical game and that goes up a notch when two teams who clearly have no love for each other are playing, but that kind of thing, there's no place for it in this or any game, it was shameful.