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How To Improve And Restructure NHL Refereeing

How-To-Improve-And-Restructure-NHL-Refereeing

The NHL has shot itself in the foot several times during the current Stanley Cup playoffs due to a series of controversial non-calls by on-ice officials. The league has apologized to those affected more than Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau lately and some online bookmakers have refunded bets due to the comedy of errors.

The latest and perhaps most blatant refereeing error came in overtime of game three in the Western Conference Final between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues. The Sharks benefited from an illegal hand pass in the offensive zone a few seconds before defenseman Erik Karlsson netted the winner in a 5-4 victory to give San Jose a 2-1 series lead.

It didn’t take long for Colin Campbell, the NHL’s Executive Vice President, to publicly admit all four on-ice officials had blown the call. Somehow but incredibly, not one of the officials spotted the hand pass even though anybody who’s being paid handsomely to follow the puck should have seen it. Campbell said the whistle should have blown, but obviously the officials simply missed the play.

He then mentioned Rule 38.4 (ix) of the NHL rule book which states the league is able to assist on-ice officials to determine if a goal should count depending on the immediate sequence of events leading up to the goal. That rule alone should supersede any other rule such as hand passes not being reviewable. It should have been used and there’s no excuse for the league not calling down to the ice to inform the referees of the hand pass since there’s not really any such thing as a non-reviewable play.

A team shouldn’t have to challenge a missed call, goaltender interference or offside etc on any goal since the league should be reviewing each goal from its eye-in-the-sky situation room in Toronto. In fact, the whole concept of NHL officiating should be restructured to make sure the right call is always made. The league needs to implement the soccer-style of refereeing in which the on-ice officials are in direct contact with an off-ice official who watches the game on a video screen.

After seeing the replay, it took television viewers and those in attendance at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis about five seconds to determine Timo Meier swatted the puck with his hand before it found its way to Karlsson’s stick. However, after a five-minute huddle by the officials the goal was wrongly allowed to stand. In addition, five minutes were wasted earlier in the game when they discussed a blatant delay of game penalty which should have been called when the Blues shot the puck into the stands. That was also confirmed in about five seconds via replays.

The four officials who missed the hand pass have reportedly been removed from the rest of the playoffs and that now makes four referees and two linesmen who have been made scapegoats for the league’s incompetence. The first arguable blown call of the postseason came in game seven of the San Jose vs Vegas Golden Knights first round contest. Cody Eakin of Vegas was assessed a five-minute major penalty for cross checking Joe Pavelski with about 10 minutes remaining in the third period.

Vegas held a 3-0 lead at the time, but the Sharks scored four straight power-play markers in the span of four minutes and eventually won the game 5-4 in overtime. The two referees were also removed from the remainder of the postseason. There was also a controversial non-call during the Boston Bruins vs Columbus Blue Jackets second-round affair when Boston blue liner Charlie McAvoy made contact with the head of Josh Anderson while delivering a body check. This came in the sixth and deciding game.

It appeared to be a blatant illegal hit to the head but McAvoy received a two-minute minor penalty rather than a major for intent to injure and game misconduct. But once the NHL reviewed the play McAvoy was hit with a game suspension.

In the same series, Artemi Panarin of Columbus scored after the puck hit the protective crowd netting above the glass and went out of play in game four. All four officials missed it and it was confirmed in a few seconds via replay.

It seems there’s a simple solution to make sure NHL games are refereed correctly. This would be to use three on-ice and one off-ice official who is located above the action with access to television monitors. The off-ice official doesn’t even need to be in the building since the league already has dozens of screens in use in Toronto and are basically wasting them. The off-ice official stays in contact with his counterparts on the ice through the use of small earbud-type devices. This allows them to communicate with each other instantly and make sure the right calls are made each and every time.

The off-ice referee has access to multiple camera angles and replays while on-ice officials have to make split-second decisions and could have an obscured view. There’s really no need for coach’s challenges and these could be eliminated altogether from the game as the off-ice official simply has to speak into his headset to assist those on the ice. There’s no arguing with players and coaches and time will be saved. And while the NHL’s at it, they might as well incorporate another idea such as goal-line technology.

If tennis, soccer, rugby and cricket can use similar technology to get the calls right why can’t hockey. Tennis and cricket balls aren’t much bigger than hockey pucks and use high-speed video cameras and a triangulation system to track the balls. There’s no need for electronics to be embedded in the pucks and the system will alert a referee if the puck has crossed the goal line. How many times have we seen games delayed while officials in the Toronto war room are watching numerous camera angles to determine if the puck crossed the goal line?

The NHL arguably missed the boat over the past 20 years or so by not moving to Olympic-sized ice when most franchises built new rinks. Players aren’t all necessarily bigger, but they’re faster and stronger. There’s not much room to maneuver on the ice these days and the last thing needed is four officials out there clogging up the open spaces. Let’s reduce this number to two or three and utilize an off-ice official with a monitor and headset.

In addition, to ensure consistency in the playoffs the NHL should assign one set of officials for the entirety of each series. The players and coaches will quickly realize exactly what is and isn’t going to be called throughout the series and can adjust their playing style. Players will know what constitutes a penalty with the officials and where to draw the line. In the current system, the refereeing changes from game to game since some officials are more stricter or lenient than others and this leads to inconsistency. The assigned officials will know everything that has taken place in the previous games and what to look for in terms of retaliation etc.

It can’t be any worse than what we’ve seen this year.

Small rinks clogged up with four officials who cant follow the puck,. Eye in the sky could see the decision in a matter of seconds.

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