How does the NHL fix officiating?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I believe the conduct of NHL players towards officials is very inappropriate.

I believe the harshness of repercussions in Rugby is a standard the NHL/Hockey should hold itself to:

you would hope that any sport would deal with spitting at an official.

[Itse]

FIFA has put a lot of work into improving the quality of officiating, and the results have been excellent. I'm saying this because they've been an example of what can be done and how.

There are now probably less blown offside calls in soccer than in hockey, despite the former having an offside rule that's much, much harder to track.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Itse

I'd also like to point out that FIFA has put a lot of work into improving the quality of officiating, and the results have been excellent.

There are now probably less blown offside calls in soccer than in hockey, despite the former having an offside rule that's much, much harder to track.

Have they cracked down on diving at all?

[dissentowner]

Two things. Agree on what the rules are and teach them to the officials so we get consistency. Second, stop trying to manage games by making soft calls or ignoring penalties to try and keep games close. We all know this happens.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Two things. Agree on what the rules are and teach them to the officials so we get consistency. Second, stop trying to manage games by making soft calls or ignoring penalties to try and keep games close. We all know this happens.

As anyone done the actual work to prove this or de-bunk it?
Do trailing teams get more powerplays than teams leading?

[Rick M.]

The NHL would have to admit that league parity is not a fact; it is an ideology. The best teams have to beat the weaker teams AND the officials.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

As anyone done the actual work to prove this or de-bunk it?
Do trailing teams get more powerplays than teams leading?

I assume (and have not verified) that there are less PPs in the playoffs (regulation, and even less in O/T) than regular season games.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by indes

I don't mind the missed or wrong calls, it's the severe gamesmanship that pisses me off. Team is down? Obstruct away! Free slashes and holds for all. Other team took 4 obvious penalties? Better not touch the opposing team because those make up calls are coming. End of a tight game? No holds barred, the ref isn't chancing wrecking a late game tie.

Obviously generalizations but it's so obvious the refs are there more to keep parity than to officiate.

That's my issue with NHL officiating. When it comes to football you have some crews that decide they are going to let them play and don't call PI or holding like they should but you rarely see NFL or CFL officials start calling penalties to keep games close or call a pass interference makeup call. NHL officials are the worst when it comes to game management as they often feel if they call a penalty or two on one team they therefore have to even things up and that's just wrong as is it to put the whistles away in a close game.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Have they cracked down on diving at all?

There's probably no more diving in soccer than in hockey these days.

Yes, I know Canadians will laugh at this.

But it's true.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

As anyone done the actual work to prove this or de-bunk it?
Do trailing teams get more powerplays than teams leading?

Even if they do, how much of that is management versus (a) trailing teams turning up their effort and (b) leading teams sitting back and defending?

Plus you'd have to fine tune it a bit to review only non-calls, borderline calls or calls that are made only on one team.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Itse

There's probably no more diving in soccer than in hockey these days.

Yes, I know Canadians will laugh at this.

But it's true.

It's not the dive so much as the number of players who have their shins apparently temporarily broken.

[Erick Estrada]

There have been two empty net goals denied for the Flames this year on obvious penalties that were not called to keep the other team in the game to the end.

[Flash Walken]

A major issue here is that the NHL is a product if it's feeder systems, and junior hockey is rife with ref abuse, absolutely horrid evels of frequency and harshness that has a detrimental impact on these refs wanting to pursue the job.

This isn't a huge pool of individuals to draw from and the physical demands are considerable. To weed out even one or two potential officials has a seriously detrimental impact on the overall officiating quality we get as fans in the NHL.

To troutmans point about accountability or names on sweaters, I wonder if refs are maybe made too accountable to a league that does a poor job if backing them up. What's the standard on a given penalty? For years the league itself could not properly articulate the rules. What happened on the ice was more of a social agreement than a defined sport.

In some ways I think the officiating is better, in some ways it is worse.

I think if the existing group of officials had a clearer mandate to call penalties, stricter and more defined standards for infractions and minimal interaction with players and coaches outside if captains and alternates, we'd probably think the same group of refs are terrific.

Watching getzlaf intimidating and official following a legitimate penalty call just makes me feel bad for the stripes.

[Flash Walken]

Double

[Itse]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

It's not the dive so much as the number of players who have their shins apparently temporarily broken.

Sure, move the goalposts

Has nothing to do with officiating.

Also, soccer players don't have a nice bench to sit to take the pressure of a leg for a moment, or to gather themselves. And no subsitutions for minor knocks. Hockey player gets a puck to the chest, they'll be off the ice in 30 seconds and somebody takes their place for that time. No such luxury in soccer.

Plus it's just a massive double standard. When a hockey player is seemingly in pain but continues after a while, he's "a fighter". When a soccer player does the same, he "was faking it all along".

In any case, this was why I took offsides as an example, because I know there's no reasoning with Canadians when it comes to comparing anything to hockey, especially soccer

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

As anyone done the actual work to prove this or de-bunk it?
Do trailing teams get more powerplays than teams leading?

I don't know. I have not done the homework and am speculating like many fans are.

[shogged]

I think officiating evens itself out over time. Some games the calls go your way, sometimes they don’t.

[djsFlames]

With fines?

I don't have much sympathy for the current crop of refs. A good portion of them have way too much of a hand in the games, and stray from the book unpredictably and often.

[GioforPM]

FTR, I totally agree with you Itse. However I can't resist:

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

FTR, I totally agree with you Itse. However I can't resist: