More video review will make the game worse. This is another "Matt Duchene Was Offside" moment - a clear, cut and dry play that was called incorrectly, and leads to the league instituting a rule that ends up being horrible in practice.
Frankly, I'd like them to get rid of literally all "situation room in Toronto" video review. Give the referees access to a tablet at the timekeeper's area to take a quick look at the play, if the referee feels a second look is warranted or in the event of a coach's challenge. A goal will be overturned only if, in the referee's opinion, he missed a clear event that would have led to a different outcome if he had noticed it (i.e. a hand pass he didn't see, or guy preventing the goalie from moving, or a player obviously offside by a mile), and even then, only if - again, in the referee's opinion - it clearly led to the goal. In other words, I don't care if you were offside by a mile or if there was a clear hand pass that was missed, if the play continued afterwards and there were a bunch of subsequent passes or changes of possession or what have you, such that the goal wasn't a direct result of the missed call.
That's my proposal. I know the objection will be "referees screw up as it is and you're giving them even more control". Well, it's up to the league to decide whether referees are incompetent and get rid of those who are - that's a separate issue. But even good referees will make mistakes, and everyone's just going to have to live with the fact that bad calls will happen sometimes. More video review is not going to make the NHL better. It didn't for offside, it didn't for goalie interference, and it won't for any other call they have to make.
__________________
"The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
|