Brendan Gallagher raised a good point Tuesday night after the game in which he took a controversial penalty late in the third period. Why couldn’t the umpires consult each other following a decision to ensure they make the right one, as is done in the NFL and major baseball, among others.
If we already spend long minutes reviewing sequences leading to goals on video, why not take a few seconds to make sure you have made the right call in a key moment of the match?
This call for change from the snarky and surprising CH forward comes in the week where National Hockey League leaders are discussing ways to improve overtime in the regular season.
Let’s take this opportunity to suggest five changes to the current rules in the NHL. Some seem set in stone, but the National League has shown openness in recent decades with the abolition of the red line, the establishment of the overtime period and shootings and the reduction in violence in general.
Is there anything more exciting in a game than the five-minute, three-on-three overtime period? The Canadian is also spoiled with the presence of a specialist in this field, Cole Caufield. This short period sometimes saves a duller evening overall. The spectator generally leaves the amphitheater with a good impression. The shootout? Some love it, others less. Why not extend the three-on-three overtime period by five minutes?
This proposition has surfaced regularly for many years. Why provide an advantage to the punished team by allowing it to clear the puck deep in the opposing territory? The NHL is always looking for ways to increase the number of goals scored. We have reduced the size of the goalkeepers’ equipment, the tolerance towards clashing, why not prohibit clearances, and impose on the unit of four players in numerical inferiority a throw-in in its territory, without the possibility of changing of strength, as in numerically equal?
Back in the day, some good old crafty defensemen mastered the art of subtly sending the puck into the crowd to give their team a break. The NHL has remedied this, but the new rule sometimes gives rise to deplorable situations. The player who unintentionally hits the puck in flight in order to intercept it and accidentally sends it into the crowd should not be punished. It’s already cost the playoffs. Downright unfair. We should leave something to the discretion of the referee. Don’t you use your judgment in most other situations?
You can hit your opponent in the face with an incredibly violent blow from a stick, but receive a minor penalty of two minutes if there is no blood. A plum the size of a golf ball on the cheek wouldn’t change anything if there isn’t a red drop. But a trivial collision or a scratch that causes bleeding sends the culprit to the bench for four minutes. Once again, the decision should be left to the discretion of the referee. This rule does not make the NHL look good.
There was a time when the attacker could not tiptoe into the goalkeeper’s semi-circle, otherwise the goal would be disallowed. Nowadays, you almost have to witness a murder attempt on the cerberus to refuse the goal. You never really know what decision will be made in Toronto during reviews for obstruction of the goalie. He practices a profession that has become very demanding, as evidenced by the constantly increasing number of major injuries. Why not establish a clear rule: the player touches the goalkeeper without being pushed in his direction by an opponent: no goal, and two minutes of punishment.
The Laval Rocket made a spectacular comeback Wednesday night against Belleville to win a third consecutive victory, games in which the team scored 17 goals. Statistically, Joshua Roy still leads the scoring charts with 17 points in just 13 games, so five during this short winning streak, and two other rookies are also starting to heat up: Sean Farrell has six points in three games, for bringing his total to 11 in 14 games, and defenseman Logan Mailloux has five points in his last five games, a record of 3, after starting the year with two assists in eight games and a record of -9.
