Stanley Cup Playoffs

It’s Time to Change the NHL Video Review System

Published

5 years ago

May 16, 2019

Being a hockey referee is hard. On any level. The game is fast; mistakes are made. But on the highest level, mistakes like the ones that happened in Game 3 of the Western Conference between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues CANNOT HAPPEN.

It is time to change the video review system in the NHL.

A hand pass by Timo Meier directly leads to Karlsson's winning goal. Tough way to lose this one for the #STLBlues #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/9vNz2sBYVX

— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) May 16, 2019

It is time to get these NHL Officials some help. We all need help in our jobs, and these guys are no different.

Far too long the NHL has lived in the grey area when it comes to video review. The league loves the fact there is human error in the game, but claim they want to get things right. Can’t have it both ways.

Don’t you wish we could go back to the good ole days of no video review? In today’s world, that can’t happen. There is no going back. The genie is out of the bottle. With TV quality improving and slow-motion replays, it would be best to give these officials a chance to see what the fans see.

Game 3 of the Western Conference FInal was just another example of how the NHL continues to get it wrong.

There have been too many instances in 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs that could have been fixed with the help of additional review.

The Bruins have been on the wrong side of reviews in the playoffs. In round 1, goalie interference that was missed on the Auston Matthews goal in Game 5. The puck off the netting in Game 4 of the Columbus series. And the Torey Krug goal that was called back because of goalie interference, when Jake DeBrusk was forced into goaltender Curtis McElhinney.

Goalie interference is a topic on its own. The NHL can’t get that call right. Goalie interference in the NHL is the equivalent of the catch rule in the NFL.

Let’s not go into the fact that San Jose has not benefited from their third break of the playoffs. In Round 1, the hit on Joe Pavelski was deemed a five-minute major. It and it was not. Pavelski said so himself.

Then San Jose gets a goal called back on an offside challenge. When according to the NHL, Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog did not touch up. In this case, three rules came into effect. The ultimate result was that Landeskog was deemed to be in play. If he was considered to be in play, how did Colorado not have too many men on the ice? Also, since Landeskog was changing, and his replacement Colin Wilson, who scored the goal, came on the ice, Landeskog was deemed a retired player.

Since the NHL does not want to make the games longer, it is time for compromise. Get rid of the offside review. The linesmen are the best in the business, and calls are missed by millimeters. Coaches in the NHL are taking it to a whole new level than what it was meant for.

Instead, have all potential major penalties being reviewed, goalie interference, pucks over glass, and all scoring plays (just like the NFL).

Along those same lines come the playoffs, every review comes from the situation room. Keep the coach’s challenge for the regular season. The playoffs are too important.

It is now on the NHL, Board of Governors, and competition committee to make things right. The referees are looking at you for the help they need.

No more apologies, just get it RIGHT!!!