One thing we can all agree on - NHL officiating needs a makeover - but how?

dahrougem2

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Dec 9, 2011
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There is no reason for the referees to not call the game by the rulebook, but the NHL has clearly given them a directive to manage games instead of making every call. Tim Peel proved this to be true, and yet the NHL will never acknowledge anything related to "game management" because as much as they want it to be part of the game they do not want people "knowing."

Since the NHL will never change this, one small change they can go back to is making every penalty permanent for the duration of it. No more penalty expiring upon scoring a goal. If you score on the PP, you're still on the PP.
 
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Neil Racki

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May 2, 2018
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I think if the could just keep a closer eye on any Bruins players, that is all we are asking for really. Especially Trent Frederic. Maybe just have him in the penalty box at the start of games, just to speed up his inevitable destination.
 
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HamiltonNHL

Parity era hockey is just puck luck + draft luck
Jan 4, 2012
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Since the NHL will never change this, one small change they can go back to is making every penalty permanent for the duration of it. No more penalty expiring upon scoring a goal. If you score on the PP, you're still on the PP.

Savage.

Problem is that makes penalties even more important.

And that gives the NHL and their refs more power.

Bad plan.
 

Ezekial

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Yes. Officiating is hard and as has been mentioned many times, we are experiencing the best of the best officials. And it’s not a good result. That tells me the system is poor and needs improving. Get the refs off the ice. They take up space and it’s impossible for them to see what’s going on skating in and out of the fray. If they’re sitting above the ice in static positions they can each (or more can be added) be given a sector of the ice to monitor. I think this is a worst a first step toward improving the officiating.
Do you just let the players beat on each other until they tire out?
 

TT1

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May 31, 2013
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honestly i'm fine with the way the game is officiated if it's done fairly and consistently, the shitty refs just have to go

playoff hockey should have less penalties but it shouldn't be at the expense of not calling stuff that could cause serious injuries, that's when you lose control and hockey stops being hockey
 

dahrougem2

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Dec 9, 2011
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Savage.

Problem is that makes penalties even more important.

And that gives the NHL and their refs more power.

Bad plan.
No doubt but it's something tangible that can be done given the NHL has zero intention to change "game management" in their officiating.
honestly i'm fine with the way the game is officiated if it's done fairly and consistently, the shitty refs just have to go

playoff hockey should have less penalties but it shouldn't be at the expense of not calling stuff that could cause serious injuries, that's when you lose control and hockey stops being hockey
Why should playoff hockey have less penalties? I will never understand this line of thinking. A penalty is a penalty, doesn't matter if it's game 1 of the regular season or game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The NHL has one rulebook. It doesn't have two separate books with one saying "Regular Season Penalty Descriptor" and the other saying "Playoff Penalty Descriptor."
 
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UConn126

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I think if the could just keep a closer eye on any Bruins players, that is all we are asking for really. Especially Trent Frederic. Maybe just have him in the penalty box at the start of games, just to speed up his inevitable destination.
Bruins were 3rd in penalties taken, and 5th in PIM as a team, but an admirable troll effort none the less.
 

TT1

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May 31, 2013
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Montreal
No doubt but it's something tangible that can be done given the NHL has zero intention to change "game management" in their officiating.

Why should playoff hockey have less penalties? I will never understand this line of thinking. A penalty is a penalty, doesn't matter if it's game 1 of the regular season or game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The NHL has one rulebook. It doesn't have two separate books with one saying "Regular Season Penalty Descriptor" and the other saying "Playoff Penalty Descriptor."

soft cross-checks, soft slashes, soft interferences shouldn't be called in the playoffs

That's how it's always been in the playoffs, nothing has changed. The only thing different this series is severe plays (that could lead to injuries) not getting called.. such as boarding, sucker punches, brutal high sticks etc.
 
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TT1

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May 31, 2013
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Not much talk of the dirty suspendable boarding of Carrier in the first period.

that's a penalty but Nosek boarded Weber, McNabb boarded Lehkonen etc.

If they're not calling stuff on Vegas then you have to protect yourself and fight fire with fire. That's why the refs are dumb, those are the type of plays that ruin a series. And it's obvious that Vegas doesn't mind playing like that, they were the ones who initiated it.
 
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Tryamw

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Not much talk of the dirty suspendable boarding of Carrier in the first period.
I don't know about suspend able but it absolutely was a terrible hit and should have been at least a minor. It's not the only thing Montreal got away with. but it was w/o a doubt a Bad hit.
 

Neuf

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Dec 17, 2016
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They will adapt their game too! Why do everybody assume players are stupid?
Exactly! There would be a few weeks of ridiculousness and then players and teams would adapt. The question is whether team management and fans would adapt or if they would freak out about all the penalties in the first 2 or 3 games.
 
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PumpkinBomb

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Jul 22, 2020
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I think their needs to be a 1 minute penalty and then rulebook enforced more appropriately.

In the NBA a penalty gives an expected 1.6 points, and each penalty only has a 1.7% impact to the score
The average team takes about 18 fouls per game, and on average there is a foul called every 80 2nds or every 5.6 possessions
about 30% of points in an NBA game are from fouls

For NFL it's different per penalty, but on average it's about 1 expected point per penalty. Or about a 5% impact on the score of the game.
The average NFL team takes about 6 penalties per game. Meaning there is a penalty every 5 minutes, or 1 every 2 possessions
About 25% of points in an NFL game are from penalties

an NHL penalty gives an expected .2 points per penalty, or about a 6.7% impact to the score of a game.
The average team will take 3.5 penalties per game meaning there is a penalty every 8.5 minutes or so.
About 23% of points in an NHL game are from penalties.

So the impact of a penalty to the NHL is lower than other sports, but i think we agree that about more than 1/2 of calls are missed, especially in the playoffs.
Allowing for 1 minute penalties (ref discretion maybe or types of penalties) you could keep the impact of the score down and the overall impact to the game in line with other sports.

I think the problem is that a penalty has a 6.7% impact to the score, larger than other sports. So reducing the time of a power play, but calling them more frequently would allow a penalty's impact to go down, but keep the overall points scored from a pp at the 25%ish range.
 

dahrougem2

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Dec 9, 2011
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soft cross-checks, soft slashes, soft interferences shouldn't be called in the playoffs

That's how it's always been in the playoffs, nothing has changed. The only thing different this series is severe plays (that could lead to injuries) not getting called.. such as boarding, sucker punches, brutal high sticks etc.
But it shouldn't be that way. I don't care if it's "always" been like this in the playoffs, that just means it's always been wrong.

If there's no point in calling the penalties by the rulebook, why bother having a rulebook? Why not have the two referees meet with each team at the start of each game and they can explain what is and isn't going to be allowed during the course of the game?

Why should teams try to build on speed and skill - and have success with that in the regular season - only to get shut down by the players that are now allowed to interfere/hold/hook/slash in the playoffs? Why are you punishing them and rewarding others?

Taking penalties isn't defending. It's the cheap way out. No idea why the NHL wants this or even condones this. It's such a mind numbingly dumb way to operate a professional league.
 
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Summer Rose

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I skipped a few pages so I apologize if this has already been suggested. Someone on page 1 suggested something vaguely similar to free kicks like in soccer for very minor infractions. A semi-radical suggestion I thought of at random would be to award the non-offending team an attacking zone "faceoff" for such very minor penalties, but the offending team's center is not allowed to participate (he is not allowed in the faceoff circle). Basically a free establishment of the attacking zone for the non-offending team.

Too radical?
 
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Tres Peleches

Johnny Turncoat
Jul 13, 2011
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No changes would be needed if the current referees were just held accountable

Missed calls are gonna happen, but when you’re staring at a player who gets punched or high-sticker in the face and nothing is called, or go the entire game letting everything go and then someone breathes on a player and it’s a penalty, that’s a problem

Penalties called/let go should not be dictated by the score of the game
 

Mr. Fancy Pants

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Well the NHL will never do it but what would help fix things is more transparency.

No one really knows what goes on behind closed doors. How does someone like Chris Lee get assigned to the Semi-finals? Is it because he makes good calls? Is it because Bettman likes him? Nobody (outside the NHL) knows how this happens.

The refs should have to answer for themselves. Maybe not after every game - only really controversial stuff. Having a ref say to the media "I made/missed that call because ..." would help fans understand a bit more and maybe change some people's opinions of them and maybe help the refs themselves. Personally, I enjoyed Kerry Fraser's column on TSN from a while back and it helped educate me on how refs see the game.

I also agree with an off-ice official. I mean, if hockey was starting as a new sport today, I think we'd see something like that. Everyone agrees that the game is too fast (that's why 2 refs were added in the first place). In fact, I'd probably go back to one ref on-ice and one ref off-ice. The on-ice ref should generally make most (95%) of the calls but the off-ice official should have the ability to override him based on video. They should be miked up as well so they can communicate instantly.

In the playoffs, teams should have the ability to select 5 sets of officials they want working their games and, as best possible, the NHL should select officials that both teams agree on. I believe a system like this was done during the Canada Cup finals. This way, it's truly the best officials according to both teams that are selected and not Bettman's or Player Ops' cronies.
 
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William Hylander

There can be only 1
Aug 17, 2009
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Fire Bettman to start, he cant be trusted to run a non corrupt NHL. I'm pretty sure he just straight up circles the team that he wants to have favourited by the refs each game. Hes been a part of the NBA that has had refs admit "I was called in to rig the games".

Truth is no one will ever be non biased but in order for fans to have faith in a fair game Bettman needs to go.
 
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Lafleurs Guy

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Jul 20, 2007
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Start by firing Chris Lee.

I have a belief that if I know a ref’s name, then he’s probably not good. I shouldn’t know who you are. I shouldn’t remember your name when the series is over. If I do, it means you really stood out. And good refs don’t stand out.

I knew Lee’s name going in. Everyone did. We knew he was terrible and... he proved us all right.

I’d be hard pressed to name other refs. There are always missed or blown calls, goes with the territory. I hate ref bashing threads and go out of my way to avoid them.

But, wow! He is so bad.
 

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