NHL GMs discuss goalie interference
Meeting shows there’s no way to make everyone happy
BOCA RATON, FLA. — Much like the varying opinions that bubble to the surface after controversial goalie interference rulings, there’s a divide among NHL general managers about how to move forward on the contentious issue.
The league’s 31 GMs spent the entire first session of their three days of meetings tackling goalie interference, with some seeking clarity and others wondering about the decision process altogether.
While it’s unclear what will come out of the gathering that wraps up Wednesday, it seems a declaration is coming with the playoffs about three weeks away.
“I think something positive will certainly come out of it,” Toronto Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello said after Monday’s meeting broke. “We also have to be really careful in dwelling on that something is majorly wrong.”
Lamoriello’s team has been at the centre of a couple of the calls in question, with head coach Mike Babcock openly questioning refereeing decisions as they related to goalie interference.
“We’ve had several isolated incidents that maybe were flagrant and people disagreed with, and I think they sort of upstaged everything,” Lamoriello added. “So we have to be careful of that, but in saying that there should be a change and there will be. It’s just making sure it’s the right thing.”
Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, however, stressed any alteration should be minor.
“Overall there’s nothing major wrong with the system,” he said. “It’s working well. The few (controversial) ones make it more difficult to judge.”
And therein lies a lot of the problem for the NHL.
Coaches were given the option to challenge for goalie interference this season, with referees looking at a tablet by the penalty box while communicating with the league’s hockey operations department via headset. But with the on-ice officials getting the final say in the heat of the moment, some decisions have left more than a few high-profile players and coaches, including Babcock, furious.
Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman wants to see a more uniform process.
“You can clarify the standards, but each referee, you and I, everyone has a different opinion,” he said. “It’s subjective, so no one’s ever going to agree 100 per cent on the vast majority of the calls.
“Having maybe a smaller group make the final decision, get more consistency to it,” Yzerman added when asked what he’d like to see done to shrink the grey area.
Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said there’s no way to make everyone happy.
“You’re always going to have that element of judgment because goaltender interference is inherently a judgment call,” he said. “The constant conversation is always there to try to make it better, that’s obviously what we spent a lot of time on.
“Define the criteria, feel comfortable with the criteria, and then in the end accept the judgment call.”
The NHL provided hard numbers to GMs on Monday to show the system is indeed working. Through 1,114 games this season, the league had 170 combined challenges from coaches and the situation room in Toronto. Referees stayed with the call on the ice 119 times and overturned the ruling on 51 occasions.
“There may have been a handful ... where we weren’t on the same page internally and we wish the ref would have made a different call and he stuck with his call on the ice,” said Colin Campbell, the NHL’s senior executive vice-president of hockey operations. “A lot of noise is made of this sometimes, depending on the market you’re in and the players involved.”