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

[Bluto]

Absolutely agree with this. We don't want an NHL game to turn into 11 minutes of actual hockey and 49 minutes of guys sitting in the box because of penalties. You can draw a line what refs should and should not call, sure, but there will always be someone who doesn't agree with the line you do agree with.

So it's simple, refs call everything or nothing but the obvious.

Here in Montreal they are having debates about the glove to the chin Suzuki got from McNabb. Ok, but if you call the punch why wouldn't you call the shoves that Suzuki gives McNabb seconds prior ?

I mean, Suzuki breaks his stick, gets down get a shove to his back from McNabb (call on McNabb?), then grabs McNabb's stick and McNabb falls with him (call on Suzuki ?), both get up but Suzuki gives a shove to McNabb (call on Suzuki?) and McNabb answers with a punch to Suzuki's chin (call McNabb?).

I say you sit both plays for 4 minutes, but people will not agree.

Yup,
For me, it doesn't make sense to penalize willing combatants for every little minor scrum. noogies, shoves, cross checks and punches have been thrown in scrums for the entire history of hockey at every level. If an offensive player hangs around in front of the goalie after the puck is frozen... he knows what's coming. When you go for a scrum on the boards, you know you're going to get whacked and shoved. When the gloves come off or the roughing goes too far.. generally the players knew what they were doing and accept the 2 minutes or 5 minutes or whatever. Fortunately, hockey players aren't big babies like the fans yet.

 

[theimmortal1]

Roughing post play is different than uncalled penalties during play that create advantages. Hooks, slashes, cross checks, interference, etc. If you don’t call them you are giving an advantage.

Wrestling around post play isn’t giving an advantage during play.

 

[Sweetpotato]

How?

-Call the rule book.

The process has to be transparent what is and isn't a penalty.

Refs now have to face the media after games and answer questions. Improve accountability.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Absolutely agree with this. We don't want an NHL game to turn into 11 minutes of actual hockey and 49 minutes of guys sitting in the box because of penalties. You can draw a line what refs should and should not call, sure, but there will always be someone who doesn't agree with the line you do agree with.

So it's simple, refs call everything or nothing but the obvious.

Here in Montreal they are having debates about the glove to the chin Suzuki got from McNabb. Ok, but if you call the punch why wouldn't you call the shoves that Suzuki gives McNabb seconds prior ?

I mean, Suzuki breaks his stick, gets down get a shove to his back from McNabb (call on McNabb?), then grabs McNabb's stick and McNabb falls with him (call on Suzuki ?), both get up but Suzuki gives a shove to McNabb (call on Suzuki?) and McNabb answers with a punch to Suzuki's chin (call McNabb?).

I say you sit both plays for 4 minutes, but people will not agree.

McNabb smacks Suzuki in the back of the head then cross checks him twice before Suzuki finally retaliates. Which is when McNabb sucker punches him. Why are you calling anything on Suzuki there, especially off-setting four minutes?

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Just my $.02 - couple of potential fixes:
1) Communication at start of year to all teams/referees that the rulebook is going to called the same from the 1st preseason game until the Stanley Cup is presented. I'm not a fan of a parade to the penalty box, but IMO the rulebook (and it's intrepretation) needs to be consistent, which it currently isn't.
2) Potential solution would be a "referee/helper" who is off ice with access to all of the "feeds", but in communication with the ref. These "helpers" are chosen by the referee in question, and stay the same throughout the year. This would enable the ref to ask a quick question to catch the "eggregious" misses. Things like the "fake head snap" and other things that the refs just miss (Palmeiri's reverse hit to the head on McAvoy as an example). By having a consistent "partnership", the referee and "helper" would get used to working with each other, and that would be helpful in the long run.

 

[DistantThunderRep]

Refs need a monthly, bi-monthly or yearly review which determines the amount of games they get the next season or their jobs in general. Use AHL refs like call ups like they do for players. Refs do what they want because there is next to zero accountability for their manipulation of games. It's encouraged at this point. The league won't make a firm stand on this sadly.

 

[Kranix]

I'd prefer nothing be called.
-Bobby Clarke

 

[stealth1]

IMO it all comes back to parity. The NHL favors parity so much they like game management as it keeps games close for the most part and the less talented teams in games. Every other league wants their stars to shine but the NHL.

 

[SotasicA]

It's cute people posting here think they know anything about refereeing a hockey game.

 

[dahrougem2]

It's cute people posting here think they know anything about refereeing a hockey game.

And I suppose you do?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

It's cute people posting here think they know anything about refereeing a hockey game.

This implies that you do. Got a lot of spare time these days, Mr. Peel?

 

[Captain97]

I would be down with an eye in the sky referee, could be done with cameras around the rink or even a drone.

 

[Bluto]

McNabb smacks Suzuki in the back of the head then cross checks him twice before Suzuki finally retaliates. Which is when McNabb sucker punches him. Why are you calling anything on Suzuki there, especially off-setting four minutes?

McNabb was clearing the crease. When you get that close to the goalie as an offensive player thats going to happen. Good no call. Clean scrum. No intent to injure on McNabbs part. Classic case of 'if you wanna be in the crease youre gonna pay for it'. Suzuki answered the bell, took his licks, and gave some back. Clean hockey. Habs fans are acting like McNabb pulled a Bertuzzi

 

[Oleksiak]

• Allow teams a veto list of refs. If referee is on too many lists, fire him.
• Stop fining people for publicly blasting the refs. Hold the refs accountable.
• Go back to one ref. There's simply not enough qualified people to implement the 2 ref system.
• Helmet cam mandatory to avoid the excuse of not seeing what happened.
• Use replay to catch egregious infractions behind the play. Also use it for the puck over the glass.

 

[CapSpace]

Replace that corrupted scum Bettman first.

 

[Lacaar]

You have to appreciate the irony of the two ref system.

They put in two referee's to catch missed calls. But the refs don't even call the obvious ones anyways so it's kind of a bunk system.

In the end it's purely optics. Do they at least talk and decide they each get to call a penalty a game and sort that out so they're both on the same management page?

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

It's cute people posting here think they know anything about refereeing a hockey game.

Been watching the NHL for 30+ years, and can tell when changes are needed.

This is a message board about the NHL - it's cute that you don't seem to understand what that means.

 

[Lolonegoal]

McNabb was clearing the crease. When you get that close to the goalie as an offensive player thats going to happen. Good no call. Clean scrum. No intent to injure on McNabbs part. Classic case of 'if you wanna be in the crease youre gonna pay for it'. Suzuki answered the bell, took his licks, and gave some back. Clean hockey. Habs fans are acting like McNabb pulled a Bertuzzi

You should apply for a referring position. Sounds like you got they system all figured out.

 

[BlueOil]

Been watching the NHL for 30+ years, and can tell when changes are needed.

This is a message board about the NHL - it's cute that you don't seem to understand what that means.

fairly confident your own favorite team's coach would laugh at your "changes needed" summary, time being a fan doesn't correlate with good understanding

 

[Bluto]

You should apply for a referring position. Sounds like you got they system all figured out.

Im too old unfortunately. Bad knees and a bad back. Cant skate anymore.

 

[TT1]

Absolutely agree with this. We don't want an NHL game to turn into 11 minutes of actual hockey and 49 minutes of guys sitting in the box because of penalties. You can draw a line what refs should and should not call, sure, but there will always be someone who doesn't agree with the line you do agree with.

So it's simple, refs call everything or nothing but the obvious.

Here in Montreal they are having debates about the glove to the chin Suzuki got from McNabb. Ok, but if you call the punch why wouldn't you call the shoves that Suzuki gives McNabb seconds prior ?

I mean, Suzuki breaks his stick, gets down get a shove to his back from McNabb (call on McNabb?), then grabs McNabb's stick and McNabb falls with him (call on Suzuki ?), both get up but Suzuki gives a shove to McNabb (call on Suzuki?) and McNabb answers with a punch to Suzuki's chin (call McNabb?).

I say you sit both plays for 4 minutes, but people will not agree.

is this real world? do people completely lack common sense? that shove was nothing.. and on top of that McNabb was the 1 who shoved him first, those are nothing plays tho

 

[Smokey McCanucks]

Go back to one ref but give the guys upstairs more leeway to review things like high sticking or puck-over-glass stuff. Put a 30-second time limit on reviews so only really obvious stuff gets reversed and we don't get ridiculous stuff like the offside review. Also, tell the linesmen to stop jumping in on altercations so quick, it makes things more dangerous not less, Ferland's career is probably over on account of that stupid optics-driven policy.

 

[coolboarder]

A very simple solution, create a new referee agency where it's independent to NHL, or IIHF, or KHL, or any minor and junior league and send them everywhere. That agency would work in every level. One day, you could be working in AHL then next day you're working in NHL that comes from an independent referee association who is responsible to assign each individual working in different leagues so therefore, you won't be able to know when you are working to prevent any bias. Once they are assigned, it's more difficult to have any bias because they'd be striving to be a best official in the organization. That would be a better solution. The rule would be this, a hometown or home state/province is not permitted to ref that game, including playoff implications where that said team is not playing at that night is chasing or trying to make the playoff not getting involved trying to aid his own hometown team in different games a chance.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

I think this feeling from fans of being unsatisfied with the refs is just here to stay. I'm not saying you should be happy or unhappy, but the referring is an impossible task.
They can call it by the rulebook but players will always adjust and push the envelope, bend the rules, try to get away with as much as they can.
That's what players have done since the last lockout, they've adjusted to where they know how to push the envelope. They can start calling it by the rulebook, but just a few years from now we'll be hearing the same complaints from fans that we do now.
It's a cycle that's never going to end.

 

[who_me?]

just deal with it!