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10 Rule Changes The NHL Must Implement To Improve The Game

By Ken MacMillan

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 20: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman addresses members of the media as the Dallas Stars and the NHL host a press conference for the upcoming Bridgestone Winter Classic 2020 at the Cotton Bowl on March 20, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - MARCH 20: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman addresses members of the media as the Dallas Stars and the NHL host a press conference for the upcoming Bridgestone Winter Classic 2020 at the Cotton Bowl on March 20, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images
Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images /

8. Allow video review for major penalties

The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs have shown us many things. The St. Louis Blues are the real deal. Jordan Binnington is a legit Conn Smythe candidate. Craig Berube is going to get paid. Zdeno Chara is not human (oh wait, we knew that like 24 years ago). And NHL referees need some help.

Reffing a National Hockey League game is about as thankless a job as you can find. If you are absolutely perfect and call the greatest game ever, no one mentions you at all. You could get 12 calls in a row that are a fraction of an inch offside and get them all correct. Crickets. Heck, you’d probably get booed if any of them go against the home team.

However, if after everyone watching at home gets to see a play 14 times on slow-motion instant replay and they finally realize the high stick you called actually only hit the guy in the upper chest and he snapped his head back, you are a complete moron. Clueless.

The officials working in the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best on the planet. There is no question about that. They are being asked to do an impossible job to perfection. And then fans go on social media and rip them apart like they kicked a dog when they interpret a hooking call differently.

And then the same fans wonder why we can’t develop better officials. Uhhhh, maybe because thousands of teenagers tried it out, got yelled at and called out on social media for missing a tripping penalty in a peewee game so they quit?

I digress, kinda.

The refs currently working in the postseason are the ones who have literally been called every name in the book and continued on, were deemed competent enough by countless supervisors to make it to the NHL and then stood out at that level.

And they still make huge mistakes from time to time.

So we could rip them apart, or admit the job is too difficult for four guys on skates. It’s time to allow more instant replay. There is nothing more frustrating than a controversial call being made, and then the replay is showed on television where it is clear the refs made a mistake. Meanwhile, the refs are huddling at center ice trying to determine what happened.

Everyone watching on tv, and even the fans in the stands can watch the replay on the big screen! The officials are literally standing underneath it and aren’t allowed to review the play. Why can’t the refs use replay on a call that could result in a major penalty!? It makes no sense at all.

Just let the refs review whatever the heck they want. They already do it in NCAA and they should do it in the NHL. The only downside is it takes more time. If you think that’s a problem, just keep reading, I’ll have games done in two hours in a couple of slides.

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