Video review back on NHL’S off-season agenda
Commissioner gives state-of-the-league address ahead of Stanley Cup final opener
Gary Bettman first focused on the good, before turning his attention to the ugly.
It’s been a great season, the NHL commissioner said in his annual state-of-the-union address before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.
Scoring is up. Players, such as Nikita Kucherov, achieved offensive heights that hadn’t been seen in years. With five teams qualifying for the playoffs that had missed the season before — including the St. Louis Blues, who were dead last in the standings on Jan. 2 — the league has never seemed to be better.
And yet, it hasn’t been a perfect post-season. Far from it.
There have been missed calls and mistakes. Too many to mention. The Vegas Golden Knights were eliminated in the opening round thanks to a blown cross-checking penalty that the league issued an apology over. Two rounds later, the Blues lost Game 2 in overtime on an illegal hand pass that nearly caused Bettman to lose his lid.
“What I thought was it would be good if I kept my head from exploding,” he said. “I was unhappy. We all were. If you ask the officials on the ice, they weren’t happy. … It was unfortunate to say the least. It was clearly a missed call and it led to a goal. You don’t ever want to see a game decided like that.”
Mistakes happen, but Bettman said the league will look at ways to minimize those mistakes, particularly by expanding video review at next month’s general managers’ meeting at the NHL awards show in Las Vegas.
The league already reviews goals, offside calls and goaltender interference. The question is whether everything else — from hand passes to high sticks to virtually anything — could be scrutinized.
If so, you might get fewer errors like the ones we have seen in these playoffs. But the tradeoff could be a game where the flow is constantly disrupted by replays or goals are disallowed because of an illegal play that might have occurred several seconds or even minutes earlier.
When asked how concerned he was about slowing down the game, Bettman answered: “Very.”
“Frankly, we want to get it right, but again it’s defining what the ‘it’ is,” Bettman said. “It’s not as simple as just saying, ‘just review everything’ because the essential element — the excitement, the flow of our game — would be inalterably interrupted if we reviewed everything. It’s just not possible and as a starting point you can’t really make penalty calls that haven’t been made two minutes earlier. Everybody has got an opinion on this and I respect that and we want lots of input, but it’s not as easy as it looks.”
Whatever solution the league comes up with, Bettman said the idea of going “old-school” and removing all video review is not an option.
“I don’t think you can go backwards anymore,” he said. “I think that ship has sailed.”
BETTMAN’S NOT PLANNING ANOTHER LOCKOUT
The September deadline for opting out of the collective bargaining agreement is fast approaching. But while the
NHL and the NHLPA do not appear to be anywhere close to having negotiated the terms of a new agreement, Bettman was optimistic there would not be another lockout.
The NHL was forced to cancel the 2004-05 season and most recently shortened the 2012-13 season due to a labour stoppage.
“When you think about where the game is and the state of the business of the game and how it’s grown, there is a lot to be said for labour peace,” he said. “That’s something we’re very focused on. If you asked the players’ association, and (NHLPA executive director) Don (Fehr) is here, he could list 10 or 15 things he’d like to change in the collective bargaining agreement. We could probably do the same thing, but ultimately this is going to come down to what’s most important.”
When asked if the looming deadline has given him pause, Fehr simply said, “I’ve been on this rodeo before.”
NO PLAN FOR A WOMEN’S NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
It was earlier this month when more than 200 of the world’s top women’s hockey players declared they would not be playing hockey in North America next season, a move that put pressure on the NHL to establish an economically viable pro league. But Bettman said the NHL is not in a hurry to step in and save the women’s game. At least not yet.
“At this particular point in time, we’re letting the dust settle in terms of what’s ultimately going to happen with the remaining existing league and whether or not we’ve heard talk of the possibility of another league being formed,” said Bettman. “We’re very supportive of the women’s game. Whether or not it’s appropriate for us to get involved in a league — at least starting our own league — is something that not everyone agrees on from afar and it’s not anything that we’re focused on yet.”
VOYNOV COULD BECOME A FREE AGENT
An arbitrator ruled earlier this week that Slava Voynov, who has been serving a suspension for domestic violence, would be allowed to return to the NHL at the midway point of next season.
The question is: Where could he play?
The Los Angeles Kings reportedly have no interest in bringing the disgraced defenceman back, but they also can’t trade him unless they first tender him a “reasonable” contract. If not, Voynov, who is on the Kings’ voluntary retirement list, could become a free agent.
“As a member of the voluntary retired list, he can’t be traded,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “Whatever rights are attached to that can’t be traded. So theoretically, he’s a free agent subject to what the voluntary retired rules say and how they are enforced in play.”