Sean Maloughney: An Outside View of NHL Reffing

Personally, I think the lack of calling penalties takes the skill out of the game. They allow the cross checking until someone stick breaks, players getting hurt... They have ruined the game, JMO.

Crosschecking to the back should be banned! Yes! Maybe all hits to the back should be banned as well!
A larger ice surface would be a deterrent to a lot of injuries as well. The speed of the game has made N. America ice much more dangerous!

Dropping the don’t talk to me, go away attitude from a lot of refs would help a great deal. Just my two cents

For starters refs need to go back to harder training/assessment. Fraser for example reviewed his own work critically for his mistakes to learn from them. Start hining their craft and experience. Too many are just bad and reffing above their level. Have to push them to griw and be better or replace them.

The league needs to hardline here. Call the rulebook. No regular season one way playoffs another. No game management. No I interpret it this way blah blah blah. Heres the rules abide by them or get buried. Period. Yes teams will struggle. Teams will piss and moan when they take 7 straight penalties and get trounced. Adjust or die. Oh well. No hit the rules hard then slack off either like with interference in the past.

I’d agree on larger rinks but league missed the boat late 90’s early 2000 with all the new buildings. No way teams remove prime money seating to increse rink size now.

Not calling penalties and allowing inferior teams to win in terms of talent really is bad for selling the game. Why the NHl allows this I will never know.
If you go back to Betteman's 29 years as commish, this started around the time he took over.

6) Hold Referees Accountable: Refs should be penalized just like players when they ignore obvious infractions right in front of their eyes. Losing $2k for a poor nights worth of officiating will DEMAND the refs to be accountable and pay the price when they get the obvious WRONG. Too many fines puts your job at risk. Replace refs that cannot make the cut!

I've been a hockey fan since the early 90's. The officiating has always been subpar compared to other major sports like MLB, NFL, and NBA. There are bad calls in the other leagues, but they are much less common than the NHL. In addition, the other sports call the rules more consistently. If somebody jumps offsides in the NFL, it's going to get called 99.9% of the time. If a MLB batter gets beaned in the face and the umpire calls a strike, that umpire isn't going to have a job at the end of the day.

The NHL has always had inconsistency in enforcement. Cross-checking is one example, but so is interference. Teams use picks all the time, or obstruct the chaser on dump-ins. Roughing and scrums is another example. According to the rules as written, everyone in a scrum should probably walk away with at least a 2-min infraction for all the shoves, punches, and cross-checks.

Until the NHL learns consistency, the officiating will always be beer-league.

Welcome to the NHL.. I love hockey, been a fan for near 35 years and one thing never changes, the pathetic officiating and care offered by the league for its star players, or any player for that matter.. at least when I started watching the enforcer played a key role in policing cheap shots, now the players and organizations rely on a joke of player safety from league offices... its a shame .... of all major sports the NHL has by far the worst rules or lack of....

Sadly it’s the league not the refs. This is what the league wants. Then their bonehead announcers can say every missed call playoff hockey.
It rewards teams like the islanders with little skill.

I agree it starts it with the rule book. It needs to be more specific period. Otherwise no fans will ever be happy with dozens maybe hundreds of missed calls in a game according to the current rule book. Next is being more consistent period, by that I don’t mean refs need to be machines incapable of missing calls, out of any other professional sport in NA hockey is by far the hardest to officiate, but seeing the inconsistency between regular season and playoffs or even between two teams is incredibly frustrating. The playoffs I can understand to certain extent(not necessarily agree with), but watching a game with one team being clearly favored is upsetting even if you have zero vested interest in either team playing. Also start holding star players accountable for the penalties they get away with(seriously as long as they don’t pull a Bertuzzi cheap shot they get away with everything only to draw the tackiest hooking penalty on the same shift). As far as getting to being consistent the only way is to hold refs accountable whether that’s fines suspensions or even being fired so be it. I mean some of them can’t even get delay of game over the boards right... Arguably the most clear cut penalty in the nhl.

All great guys, until your team gets called for a lame ass regular season call ...in game 5 ...that changes the course of the series. There is a reason this is the greatest playoffs of all sports...better man up if you want to drink from the CUP. The other thing most don't get, and if you have reffed at any advanced level you would, the speed involved and being blocked by other players at critical times is maddening.

It doesn't matter what the rule books says if the refs don't follow it.

OK, so 4 officials can't continuously watch 12 players on the ice at the same time, in addition to those participating in line changes. But too many calls are missed right in front of an official and those are inexcusable and kill whatever credibility there is in reffing. Maybe they need some tennis-style refs in chairs over the ice with specific zone responsibilities.

Any injury should be reviewed and a penalty assessed -- either for causing injury or embellishment. That goes for cross-checking the head into the boards as well as bleeding all over the ice for an uncalled high sticking or rolling around the ice in pain then jumping up and not missing a second of play. True injuries without penalties because no one saw it (except 15,000 fans and a TV audience) is outdated and outrageous. It rewards and incents dirty play.

It doesn't make sense that the post season has different rules than the regular season; are these two different sports? One rule book for all games should be a priority. Then the refs should be judged every game for adherence to that rule book.

My dad and I have been saying the same thing for years. The refs state "we'll let the payers determine the game instead of calling penalties". There is the problem. A penalty is a penalty. Call a penalty if a penalty is needed to be called. A penalty in game one of the season is the same penalty if its game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

All great guys, until your team gets called for a lame ass regular season call ...in game 5 ...that changes the course of the series. There is a reason this is the greatest playoffs of all sports...better man up if you want to drink from the CUP. The other thing most don't get, and if you have reffed at any advanced level you would, the speed involved and being blocked by other players at critical times is maddening.
- gilmoure93

Except ... there's blatant infractions - RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OFFICIALS - that go uncalled.

All great guys, until your team gets called for a lame ass regular season call ...in game 5 ...that changes the course of the series. There is a reason this is the greatest playoffs of all sports...better man up if you want to drink from the CUP. The other thing most don't get, and if you have reffed at any advanced level you would, the speed involved and being blocked by other players at critical times is maddening.
- gilmoure93

I would absolutely love for lame ass regular season calls to still get called in Game 5. Why should the rulebook change once the playoffs begin?

Sadly it’s the league not the refs. This is what the league wants. Then their bonehead announcers can say every missed call playoff hockey.
It rewards teams like the islanders with little skill.
- Newgod77

How about just enjoying the playoffs? It's been called this way for decades. It isn't going to change no matter how much people female dog. You want to win the cup, you're going to earn it with a pound of flesh, your finesse and skill isn't going to be enough.

I've been a hockey fan since the early 90's. The officiating has always been subpar compared to other major sports like MLB, NFL, and NBA. There are bad calls in the other leagues, but they are much less common than the NHL. In addition, the other sports call the rules more consistently. If somebody jumps offsides in the NFL, it's going to get called 99.9% of the time. If a MLB batter gets beaned in the face and the umpire calls a strike, that umpire isn't going to have a job at the end of the day.

The NHL has always had inconsistency in enforcement. Cross-checking is one example, but so is interference. Teams use picks all the time, or obstruct the chaser on dump-ins. Roughing and scrums is another example. According to the rules as written, everyone in a scrum should probably walk away with at least a 2-min infraction for all the shoves, punches, and cross-checks.

Until the NHL learns consistency, the officiating will always be beer-league.
- GalacticStone

At least back in the 80s and 90s there was only one ref on the ice. Things get missed and it was part of the game. Isn't this why the second ref come in, to cut down on missed calls?

Sean Maloughney: An Outside View of NHL Reffing
- Sean Maloughney

Your team hasn't even played an official league game yet and you are already complaining about the reffing.

Your team hasn't even played an official league game yet and you are already complaining about the reffing.
- leonkennedy

Game management is total BS. The refs have too much power built into their role, with the development of slow motion and the access the teams have to video, a full top down examination is necessary to better fit how the game is played today. So many little things beyond the even up calls, like when they pull one guy out of a scrum to calm things down. There like 5 penalties going on and they arbitrarily choose one guy, usually the guy who’s been punched and face washed repeatedly and retaliates last. How is that all a fair. Makes no sense how much power they have and how openly they flaunt it.

What about assigning 1 ref and 1 linesman to each team(along with an alternate or back up). While they don't specifically work for that team, and you try to push for non-favortism... they would just by association build relationships with coaches and players of said team. I get that this may lead to being a little impartial... but there are 2 of each on the ice at all time... one from each team... I think grown men and women who are paid to be impartial can atleast come close to achieving that... while at the same time being around that team, players, coaches, may build a relationship where there is more communication and accountability of individual refs.

I'm sure I'll get blasted for refs playing favorites and it being a bad idea... but I honestly think it would lead to better overall officiating if the refs worked and reported to the league...but were traveling/assigned to a specific team.

I'm not saying that the league needs to ban this completely

Can anyone give a reason why this would be a bad thing? Is there some invisible quality of hockey that is lost if players weren't allowed to crosscheck at all like the rulebook says? This is one of those things where people turn a blind eye to it based on "It's just the way it is" without having an actual reason for it to be that way.

I mean is there anyone who watches hockey for the cross checks? Anyone who sits in front of their tv like, "oMg u see that crosscheck bro?!? that was so sick!!!!"

Personally I'd rather see the Bergeron/Datsyuk type takeaways without cross checks then the Avery version.

I started watching hockey in 1981. From day 1 to now the officiating has been a complete joke and a disgrace. 40 years of incompetence and stupidity. When my team was a joke I used to watch the playoffs because I loved the game of hockey. Now once my team is eliminated i am done, I can care less. I watch hockey for the players the speed of the game the goaltending the reaction of the crowd when there is a goal. I am not watching the refs control the game and be the reason a team lost. You have a goon running player safety you have refs that are stupid and incompetent. I am losing interest at this point. If changes are not made I am done.