Have Officials Gone Too Far In Calling Obstruction?
Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League
Nov 25, 11:10 AM | Hype this story!
As Forest Gump so famously said, “NHL officiating is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Okay, so maybe that isn’t the exact quote, but I think it fits for this weeks topic of discussion.
Over the previous 20 years, we’ve seen the NHL go from all-offense to all-defense, and finally, we’re starting to see the offense creep back into the game.
As the NHL expanded to 30 teams, several things happened that changed the way the game was played.
Players got bigger, and because of expansion, less-talented players found their way onto rosters.
At the same time, officials began calling games with a much less strict whistle, which ultimately ended in the concept of “bigger is better,” especially on defense.
So what we saw were talentless hacks who couldn’t skate, couldn’t control their stick, and, overall, couldn’t play hockey. But, because they were big and capable of using their large frame to obstruct, they found a job.
And because officials weren’t calling obstruction penalties with any kind of consistency, these hacks took over the game of hockey.
The result: scoring went down and the trap moved in.
Now, with an apparent renewed interest in increasing offense, the NHL has instructed officials to make calls consistently from shift to shift, game to game and season to season.
If it is a penalty in the first minute of play, it is a penalty in the last minute of play.
If it is a penalty in the first game of the season, it is a penalty in the last game of the Stanley Cup Finals.
They’ve done a decent job, though we’ve seen plenty of bumps in the road.
Darren Dreger of TSN thinks the officiating has become a bit overzealous.
“It’s the touch penalties – hooking when a player’s stick taps an opposing player’s glove or hip, or holding when a player’s free hand touches his competitor – that drive coaches, managers and players crazy,” Dreger wrote last week in an opinion piece.
He added the following statistics:
Hooking Penalties by Season:
Season — No.
2003-04 — 274
2005-06 — 1,052
2006-07 — 931
2007-08 — 689
2008-09* — 701
*Through 267 games
Clearly, this season has seen its share of hooking penalties, which begs the question: has the NHL gone too far in the other direction?
So here is what we know:
- NHL officials have cracked down on infractions, particularly forms of obstruction.
- Obstruction penalties, primarily hooking, have become extremely common.
- Scoring in the NHL has increased as obstruction slowly has been removed from the game.
Some things to consider:
- What is more important: scoring or calling the game accurately?
- What is better: too few penalties called or too many penalties called – or are they equally as bad?
- Are NHL officials competent enough to call the games accurately?
- If increased scoring is the goal, what other ways could the NHL achieve this without calling everything that even resembles obstruction?
And the question of the week:
Last week’s poll results:
Should the Penguins switch to powder blue uniforms permanently?
- No – 74%
- Yes – 26%
Comments
RyanS
Nov 25, 11:35 AM
On a seperate note: my friend has told me that Cooke and Kennedy have been upgraded to PP unit # 1 – to play around the net. Any validity to this??
Matt Bodenschatz
Nov 25, 11:38 AM
Partial validity. Kennedy will be on the top unit with Crosby, Satan, Malkin and Goligoski, while Cooke will be on the second unit with Staal, Sykora, Boucher and Letang.
Therrien said in the PG that the idea is to add a little sandpaper to each unit to improve the boardwork and outwork the opponent. I like it.
UB
Nov 25, 12:27 PM
tiger
good one – forest gump analogy
see u at xmas
Ben Schmidt
Nov 25, 12:43 PM
I think that scoring is up, which is good, but I do think there is a lot of room for improvement on officiating. (Isn’t it just a tad bit suspicious when there are games that have no penalties called in the third period?)
They need to develop a consistent set of standards, and then hold to them. We still see some referees who feel that penalties don’t need to be called towards the end of games or in overtime, or during the playoffs, which is ridiculous.
I will say that I partially agree with Dreger that some of the “touch” penalties are a bit overboard. Obstruction should be called when a player is actually obstructed. If they got tapped, then that shouldn’t really count as a “hook”.
Going along with that, though, is that they should make sure they call it every time when a player is actually interfered with, hooked, or tripped, instead of just letting things go sometimes, and calling them others. Slashing, spearing, slew foot – all of these penalties need to be called every single time they occur, and not ignored just because it’s late in a game, or it’s the playoffs.
Finally, I think they need to change it so that if a defender puts the puck over the glass, it’s automatic icing, instead of a delay of game penalty. It’s just too tacky of a penalty, but making it be an automatic icing, with the requisite no-line-change and faceoff in the defending zone, should be enough of a deterrent.
Burghthing
Nov 25, 02:33 PM
“Now, with an apparent renewed interest in increasing offense, the NHL has instructed officials to make calls consistently from shift to shift, game to game and season to season.
If it is a penalty in the first minute of play, it is a penalty in the last minute of play.
If it is a penalty in the first game of the season, it is a penalty in the last game of the Stanley Cup Finals.”
I’ve read some funny things on this site, but that has to be the funniest one yet!
Matt Bodenschatz
Nov 25, 02:38 PM
You conveniently ignored the next sentence, Burghthing, which reads, “They’ve done a decent job, though we’ve seen plenty of bumps in the road.”
The NHL HAS instructed officials to improve their penalty calling. That doesn’t mean the execution is where it should be.
TheOneandOnlySurge
Nov 26, 01:11 AM
“decent job” OK…Seriously though it would be tough to be referee in these days, no matter what sport. However, the key to being a good ref is consistency. I don’t care what you call a hook or a slash or obstruction, as long as you call it that way for the entire game. Even in the dieing seconds of the game you should call that penalty. I don’t really care if there is a 12 goal lead, you need to be consistant. Oh and the league needs to be consistant throughout the year and in each conference. For example, teams in the west tend to obstruct players more. They do it because they get away with it. I really noticed it during the playoffs last year. Not just in the final but the entire playoffs. I watched a good many of the Detroit vs Nashville and Detroit vs Colorado series. In those games I couln’t believe what they let go. (I’ve already seen this happen this year in a game Minnisota was playing but I can’t remeber who they were playing.) Pitt vs NY, Shannan was given a penalty for coasting infront of a player trying to play the person with the puck. So what is considered interferance/obstruction?
DaBich
Nov 26, 06:27 AM
I agree with Surge. No one is perfect, but the refs haev got to be more consistent. I truly feel they are letting their feelings influence their calls, and that’s just wrong.
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