Paul Stewart: On Hockey Sense and Self-Preservation

Great post!

The first period of last night's Flyers/Pens matchup was absolutely horrid.

I tend to give refs more leeway than most, seeing as they have been doing this a long time. There is surely a reason they are getting paid a decent sum to officiate the best league in the world - these guys are very good at what they do.

However the first period was filled with less than ticky-tack, and then downright phantom calls. Constant special teams play, and whistles on clean hockey contact led to a period with absolutely no flow and physicality.

Any new comer to hockey expecting to see a thrilling matchup with playoff implications between rivals would have been thoroughly disappointed. Not good for the NHL.

To the credit of the crew, they did a great job of adjusting and righting the ship for the second and third periods.

tim peel, everyone. nobody was surprised. beyond that, there wer ticky tack calls, and blatantly missed calls vs. pittsburgh -hgh stick/interference and then hooking. just brutal.

Great post!

The first period of last night's Flyers/Pens matchup was absolutely horrid.

I tend to give refs more leeway than most, seeing as they have been doing this a long time. There is surely a reason they are getting paid a decent sum to officiate the best league in the world - these guys are very good at what they do.

However the first period was filled with less than ticky-tack, and then downright phantom calls. Constant special teams play, and whistles on clean hockey contact led to a period with absolutely no flow and physicality.

Any new comer to hockey expecting to see a thrilling matchup with playoff implications between rivals would have been thoroughly disappointed. Not good for the NHL.

To the credit of the crew, they did a great job of adjusting and righting the ship for the second and third periods.
- TJSgrignoli

Not that eagles nobody they brought along. Pierre kept him thrilled all night.

Do you believe that Marchant was "trying like hell" to get out of the way? Yes, you have the advantage to watch the play over and over, real time and slow motion.

Do you believe that Marchant was "trying like hell" to get out of the way? Yes, you have the advantage to watch the play over and over, real time and slow motion.
- powerenforcer

Things happen fast out there, granted. But Marchand could have pivoted away or even skated through without dangerous contact (even if it still would have been an interference minor). He did neither, and actually made it much worse. Even if unintentional, it was reckless. Also, Marchand has long since lost the benefit of the doubt. That is how I see it.

Things happen fast out there, granted. But Marchand could have pivoted away or even skated through without dangerous contact (even if it still would have been an interference minor). He did neither, and actually made it much worse. Even if unintentional, it was reckless. Also, Marchand has long since lost the benefit of the doubt. That is how I see it.
- Paul Stewart

Thanks for your answer.

Worst officiating call I have ever witnessed occurred in the Pens/Leafs game last night. The goalie interference call to take awayh a Brian Dumoulin goal was an epic failure of officiating. The Rust injury was his own fault. Rust put himself in a vulnerable position.

Worst officiating call I have ever witnessed occurred in the Pens/Leafs game last night. The goalie interference call to take awayh a Brian Dumoulin goal was an epic failure of officiating. The Rust injury was his own fault. Rust put himself in a vulnerable position.
- PittsPens

It's been happening since after the All Star break. We're going to see a team eliminated from the playoffs based on not calling goalie interference. The refs are just doing what they've been told by the league to do. It's unfortunate but the NHL has made its own bed. Now they have to lay in it.

If I'm a coach, I tell my players to play 1997 "Legion of Doom line plow over the goalie and pop in the rebound" hockey. Why not?

Great post Paul. I see this more and more both from officials and from DOPs.

First in regards to the refs. Way too often I’m seeing poor calls being made by the R who is nowhere near the play. What’s worse, is that I rarely see any consultation with the R who was right on top of the play.

In the NFL, we routinely see the officials gather and talk after a flag is thrown and sometimes that flag is picked up and (rightly) no call is made. I would like to see NHL refs do more of this and not be afraid to change their minds when warranted and not make a call.

In regards to DOPs, I wish they’d put less emphasis on the result of a serious infraction and punish players more severely for making the dangerous hit in the first place. I’d also like to see much stiffer penalties for repeat offenders who don’t seem to be learning a lesson, I’m looking at you, Mr Marchand. As a Flyers fan, I was fully onboard with the 10 game suspense for Radko Gudas and I believe Marchand deserves at least as much for his hit on Duclair.

Reckless plays are more frequent than reckless plays that lead to injury. If you only punish the injury, you are, on balance, rewarding reckless play.

I thought I'd seen everything WRT to the offside call challenge. Malkin skating along the line, 50 sec before the goal, while the defense was already set up in the zone ups the absurdity.

The way the rule works now, the only way to avoid losing that power play is to score a goal and have it taken away, the clock at least resets. If the defenders get a clear, the play continues but 50 seconds of time runs off in which the attackers could not score.

Missing a call in real time is one thing, the replay implementation is a self inflicted wound that damages the product.

Tim Peel is possibly the worst ref I have ever seen in the NHL, and I have been watching for 40 years.

Worst officiating call I have ever witnessed occurred in the Pens/Leafs game last night. The goalie interference call to take awayh a Brian Dumoulin goal was an epic failure of officiating. The Rust injury was his own fault. Rust put himself in a vulnerable position.
- PittsPens

There just seems to be no rhyme or reason to the way the league makes goalie interference calls. We have all seen the exact same type of play called 2 different ways depending on the way the wind blows.

It is fast getting right up there with NFL pass interference, which in my opinion is the worst penalty in all of sports.

As with pass interference, a goalie interference penalty should call itself.

Tim Peel is possibly the worst ref I have ever seen in the NHL, and I have been watching for 40 years.
- MBFlyerfan

Agreed, the NHL should be embarrassed for employing him

I still don't really understand the "suspend more games for the repeat offender". If a rookie sticks his knee out and drops another player, shouldn't the punishment be the same as if a repeat offender does the same thing? Isn't it the action that results in the suspension, not the player?

Tim Peel is possibly the worst ref I have ever seen in the NHL, and I have been watching for 40 years.
- MBFlyerfan

Tim makes me want to peel off my eyes

Although I agree that Rust needed to protect himself better and that players need to be coached to do this more and that a healthy, un-concussed Rust is always better than risking a concussion just to get one PP in one game, Hagg's feet did leave the ice. If you look at a replay, both feet leave the ice. I am not sure of the exact wording in the rule book but I suspect that this does qualify for boarding in most if not all cases and I suspect that Peel saw this and this is why he called the penalty, regardless of the fact that Rust lowered himself.

As for Tim Peel, I will always remember this classic Boudreau moment, when Peel waved off a goal for Anaheim that should have counted:
https://gfycat.com/LameEl...rlyAntipodesgreenparakeet
"Tim, Tim... come here. That's ****ing bull****!"