NHL wants situation room, not referees, to have final say on goalie interference
NHL general managers came to Florida looking for clarity and consistency on goalie interference calls.
With the playoffs just around the corner, they might wind up getting both.
The league announced Tuesday that GMs want the final decision on video reviews of goalie interference to rest with the hockey operations department in Toronto instead of referees on the ice.
“We had to first define the standard of review and get more clarity on that,” Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee said. “We have that now, and then to have that decision made in Toronto, I think affords more consistency.”
The ball now rests in the NHL Players’ Association’s court, and then ultimately with the board of governors, which requires unanimous support from all 31 teams to approve an in-season change of this sort.
On-ice officials, using a tablet and headset, currently make the final video review determination in conjunction with hockey operations when a coach challenges for goalie interference.
But a couple of controversial decisions made in the heat of the moment involving high-profile teams and players forced the league to take a second look at the process.
The NHL laid out the numbers to GMs and reporters this week, stating that through 1,114 games in 2017-18, there were 170 combined challenges from coaches and the situation room for goalie interference.
Of those instances, referees stayed with the call on the ice 119 times and overturned the initial ruling on 51 occasions. The league said it only disagreed with a fraction of the calls made by its officials.
“I have 100 per cent confidence in how things are working right now, but I think there’s always an appetite to look, to see if there’s a way of maybe improving,” said Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. “What can never be lost is that this ultimately will still be a judgement call.”
One thing the GMs gave a thumbs down to by a vote of 21-10 was moving ahead with a change to the offside rule that would have seen a trailing skate blade off the ice, but above the blue line, be considered onside.
“I’m fine with the status quo,” Cheveldayoff said. “What I’m hearing from the managers is they want consistency,” NHL senior executive vice-president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said.