Brian in MA wrote:
Good insight this morning from retired NHL referee Paul Stewart: https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=99851 Both he and fellow retired ref Kerry Fraser have been critical of how the league has handled the officiating issues that have happened throughout the post-season across practically every team/series. With the game becoming ever faster and the available technology improving, it makes more sense to have a third official off-ice who can weigh in on this stuff. They currently have the offside challenge where someone's skate blade can be mere fractions of an inch on the line as a team gains the zone and scores 45 seconds later be a reviewable/reversible call, but should also have a process in place to address the other issues that have occurred throughout this post-season.
I don't know what can be done about terrible calls beyond holding the refs more accountable in some manner, or as the article says better recruitment and training. It's a damn fast game, something like the Tarasenko dive is 50/50, missing the Chara slash depends on who's looking where/who's blocked from view. Those are real tough calls. Even the major penalty in the Sharks series was really tough, though on review it should be a slam dunk. Coaches should be able to challenge more imo.
The game is already fast enough, a few extra minutes for coaches challenges, and an off-ice official to get a better view of the game would really help improve the NHL product to me.