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Last week, I blogged about some of my concerns with the NHL's coach's challenge system and why I think it could end up with unintended consequences and why I think the video replay system the league uses still leaves something to be desired. Saturday's game between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings was a case in point of why I think there is room to improve the process.



On the sequence, Canadiens' forward Brendan Gallagher charged hard at the Detroit net as a defenseman attempted to chip the puck to safety. Instead, he sent in directly into Gallagher as the attacker slid feet first. Gallagher then plowed into the goalie Petr Mrazek's legs, sending the goalie crashing to the ice and propelling both himself and the puck into the ice.

Referee Dave Jackson, positioned in the right corner, did not make a call on the play. He sent it to the Situation Room in Toronto for review. The video crew reviewed the play ONLY the basis of whether Gallagher made a distinct kicking motion -- which he clearly did not.

As a result, Toronto called the play a legal goal.

Ah, but something huge is missing here. Gallagher was not pushed into the goaltender and Mrazek had no reasonable change at making save. It was clearcut goaltender interference and the goal should NOT have counted.

Now it was up to Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill to issue a coach's challenge on the basis of goaltender inteference; one of two circumstances under which a coach can initiate a challenge; wherein the on-ice officials would take a look at the play and determine whether or not to allow the goal.

Blashill didn't challenge. Why not? Apparently, the Detroit coach was unaware that he was allowed to issue a challenge on the basis of goaltender interference after the play had been reviewed in Toronto on a different basis.

When we ended up with here -- besides a massive failure to communicate -- was a case where everyone involved dropped the ball. The system failed and the result was a goal that should not have counted ending up instead on the scoreboard.

No one looks good when that happens. Not the league. Not the coach. Not the on-ice official.

This case raises a lot of questions about the loopholes and communications system of the whole replay and coach's challenge systems. It's my hope that, rather than mudslinging, it leads to constructive dialogue about improving the systems:

1) Why can't on-ice officials take their own initiative to look at a play on video themselves? Isn't the objective to get the call right? Aren't goal/no goal rulings the single most important ones to get correct in the end? Rather than saying "play is under review", shouldn't we say WHY the call is under the review? Shouldn't officials have the leeway and creativity to review the call for A,B,C and/or D. Then communicate that to the benches and the spectators.

2) Has the NHL sufficiently educated teams' coaches on their ability to challenge for one of the allowed reasons even if there has already been a review on a different basis? Blashill didn't know, and I would bet most other NHL coaches would also be unaware that a challenge was still open (as long as they had their timeout -- another faulty part of the procedure, in my opinion).

3) If the on-ice official does not see what happened -- hence, holding up a call for review -- why was there no communication from the Situation Room that, while there was not a kicking motion, a correct on-ice ruling would have been no goal due to goaltender interference?

4) We need to be honest with ourselves about the league claim that 99 percent of reviewed plays end up with the correct call. That is not accurate. Further improvement is needed.

If you are going to build a road, you have to know where that road is leading and what the hazards are. When you try to create more offense in hockey, there are going to be more convoluted plays such as this one. Video review and coach's challenges can be very effective tools, but we need to think broadly.

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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.

The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials. Stewart also maintains a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.