The NHL’s officiating throughout the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs has been questionable, to say the least.
When the game is on the line, the on-ice officials are expected to make the correct calls. Yet the officials either have made poor calls or no calls at all in several key situations this postseason, in some cases directly impacting the outcome of games.
It’s time the NHL straighten out its video review process, and a few members of the Boston Bruins weighed in on the controversial topic prior to the Stanley Cup Final.
Here’s what Brad Marchand recently said, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan:
“Get rid of video reviews, that’s the problem. When you start bringing in all the video reviews, the refs are getting crucified. They’re out there to do a job. Start taking it away from them, little by little, then it’s going to escalate. Now they’re going to want video reviews for pucks hitting the net or hand passes, so how much are you going to take away from the refs? The only way to do it is to do all of it with video review or none of it.”
The Bruins top line winger added he doesn’t care which route the NHL chooses so long as it chooses one. He explained the NHL is floating in the middle with video review right now, adding the league needs to review everything or nothing at all.
Bruins defenseman Torey Krug also made a great point when asked about the topic. Here’s what he said, per Kaplan:
“My only suggestion would be to be able to review anything that immediately affects a scoring play. So if, for example, a hand pass was part of the scoring play, as a secondary assist or a primary assist, that should be reviewable. If it’s outside the primary scoring event, then I don’t think that should be reviewed.”
Stay tuned to see if the NHL implements any changes this offseason, for it sure seems inevitable in wake of some of the questionable calls — or non-calls — made in the playoffs thus far.
