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stemit14 · 05-06-2024, 10:38 AM

Not sure if it’s been posted yet but Tocche was making comments on diving going into this series:

“I can’t stand embellishment. I’m not even saying that Edmonton is an embellish team. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that I would be very on guard with the refs this playoff with this embellishment.”

“Snapping heads, falling down … I think it’s become a lot. I think it’s up to the coaches. I don’t think you can promote that stuff. If not, the NHL has to do something about that stuff with the refs.”

I absolutely agree that the refs have to be very careful and watch for this. The oilers will think there is no downside to diving… if they don’t get called for diving, their team gets powerplays which will likely lead to them winning the series. If they get called for diving, it means they get to play 4-on-4 which also plays into the hands of McDavid and the oilers likely win the series.

What the refs have to do to punish the oilers if they are diving is just stop calling penalties on the Canucks but still call penalties on the oilers. That’s how you stop it. The oilers can complain but if you’re going to try to make the refs look stupid, that’s the price you’ll pay.

I will note how ironic it is that it’s a Canucks coach complaining/warning about embellishment… mainly because the 2011 SCF run Canucks were the first team to lean into diving and embellishment to win in the playoffs. I know other players have embellished to get calls before that… but I had never seen more diving from an entire team until then. They had a fantastic powerplay and they used diving and embellishment to get their powerplay unit on the ice more than any team I’d ever seen. Luongo had multiple diving penalties that year… how often do you ever see a single diving call against a goalie? Imagine a goalie getting called on that multiple times in a season. I still blame that team for how bad embellishment has gotten in the NHL because they were the first to show how effective it could be.

Still cheering for the Canucks to beat the oilers of course… but I find it funny that it’s a Canucks coach making the complaint.

05-06-2024, 10:38 AM	#313
stemit14 #1 Goaltender Join Date: Jul 2013 Exp:	Not sure if it’s been posted yet but Tocche was making comments on diving going into this series: “I can’t stand embellishment. I’m not even saying that Edmonton is an embellish team. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that I would be very on guard with the refs this playoff with this embellishment.” “Snapping heads, falling down … I think it’s become a lot. I think it’s up to the coaches. I don’t think you can promote that stuff. If not, the NHL has to do something about that stuff with the refs.” I absolutely agree that the refs have to be very careful and watch for this. The oilers will think there is no downside to diving… if they don’t get called for diving, their team gets powerplays which will likely lead to them winning the series. If they get called for diving, it means they get to play 4-on-4 which also plays into the hands of McDavid and the oilers likely win the series. What the refs have to do to punish the oilers if they are diving is just stop calling penalties on the Canucks but still call penalties on the oilers. That’s how you stop it. The oilers can complain but if you’re going to try to make the refs look stupid, that’s the price you’ll pay. I will note how ironic it is that it’s a Canucks coach complaining/warning about embellishment… mainly because the 2011 SCF run Canucks were the first team to lean into diving and embellishment to win in the playoffs. I know other players have embellished to get calls before that… but I had never seen more diving from an entire team until then. They had a fantastic powerplay and they used diving and embellishment to get their powerplay unit on the ice more than any team I’d ever seen. Luongo had multiple diving penalties that year… how often do you ever see a single diving call against a goalie? Imagine a goalie getting called on that multiple times in a season. I still blame that team for how bad embellishment has gotten in the NHL because they were the first to show how effective it could be. Still cheering for the Canucks to beat the oilers of course… but I find it funny that it’s a Canucks coach making the complaint.