Situation room, not refs, to get final say on goalie interference reviews
The NHL is about to hand the final decision on video reviews of goalie interference to its hockey operations department. The aim for general managers is more consistency with what has quickly become the league’s most controversial rule, and there’s a chance even bigger changes could be on the way by the time next season rolls around.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Wednesday that the ultimate say on goalie interference reviews will soon rest with the situation room in Toronto, hopefully in time for the start of the playoffs. “It will be an improvement to the extent that the managers and the coaches were looking for consistency,” Bettman told reporters at the conclusion of the GM meetings. “Hockey operations, we have to wear whatever decision is made anyway.”
Using a tablet and headset, referees on the ice have been making the final determination on goalie interference challenges after speaking with hockey ops.
But following some controversial decisions this season, GMs now want the situation room to get the last word, with a retired referee also being added to the group to assist with calls. Bettman said he didn’t see a big problem with how the system has worked since coaches were first allowed to challenge plays in the crease beginning in 2015-16, while adding that the handful of high-profile instances forced the league to reexamine the process.
“If I’m a coach and I issue a challenge and I’m wrong, I’m going to be unhappy about that even if the challenge shouldn’t have been made in the first instance,” Bettman said in a boardroom at the Boca Beach Club resort.
“So I get it, but some of the attention it got was way in disproportion to how this is working.”
The NHL Players’ Association, via the NHL/NHLPA competition committee, announced it had signed off on the change late Wednesday.
“First and foremost, the players want consistency in the application of the rule, and therefore support this proposed change in order to help accomplish that goal,” NHLPA special assistant to the executive director Mathieu Schneider said in a statement.
The in-season tweak now needs unanimous approval from the league’s board of governors, which should be nothing more than a formality at this point.
“Officials on the ice are still going to be involved in the decision,” Bettman said. “The standard hasn’t changed in terms of what goaltender interference is. “There are just some close calls where it comes down to judgment. There will be another voice in the room, this one with a background in officiating. Ultimately, it’s (now) a hockey operations call.”
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly added a twist to the conversation by revealing there was also talk among GMs about assessing a two-minute penalty when a coach incorrectly challenges for goalie interference, much like the rule instituted this season that sees a minor handed out for an incorrect offside challenge.
The change to the offside review rule from a team losing a timeout to being penalized for a failed challenge was done in part to discourage coaches from using it as a delay tactic.