We take you back to last March’s general managers meetings in Boca Raton, where that Jan. 18 goal in Detroit was the catalyst for one of a batch of rule changes announced this week by the NHL.
Remember the puck that was deflected high into the netting, a good 25 feet above and behind Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick, then fell back down from the rafters onto Quick’s back, ricocheting into the Kings’ net? Inexplicably, with four officials on the ice, the only set of eyes that saw the flight path of that puck belonged to Kings defenceman Drew Doughty. And his sight line didn’t count that night.
There were a couple of hundred thousand other sets of eyes that knew the goal was no good, as soon as the replays were shown, and some of them belonged to the men inside the National Hockey League’s Situation Room in Toronto. But the goal was considered outside the scope of video review, so it stood. The Red Wings forced overtime and won in a shootout. It was a result that was, frankly, an embarrassment to the league.
Two months later in Florida, at the annual GM meetings, we were advocating for the establishment of a position we called the Vice President of Common Sense. Someone who can overrule the goal in Detroit, or the one where Colorado’s Matt Duchene is six feet offside. We’ll call him Captain Obvious. And he could catch the rare “big mistake” by an official, mitigating their impact on a game.
“It’s just a lot more complicated than you think,” a clearly exasperated Kings GM Dean Lombardi told us that day. “The hard part is, when you see something like that, that’s so far out in left field, you want to fix it. But as soon as you try to fix it, does it apply to offsides? Does it apply to high sticks or all those other things that aren’t reviewable now? You want to fix it, but…
“It’s just more complicated than you think.”
Two years previous, a similar meeting had ended in a stalemate. This time, common sense prevailed. The revised Rule 38.4 gives Hockey Operations — a.k.a. The Situation Room — broader discretion in waving off a goal. It’s the right move, and we believe even Detroit GM Ken Holland, when he stands back and takes in the big picture, would rather give back that phony goal then have the league embarrassed by the fact it was counted.
Here’s our take on some of the other rule changes announced Thursday:
• Changing ends in overtime so teams have the long change. Awesome.
“The majority of goals are scored in the second period for that reason [long change],” said Edmonton GM Craig MacTavish in Florida, where he was part of the group that established the criteria for this rule change. “With the long change, it’s tough to get your defencemen off. There are bad changes, bad decisions, and all are magnified. You can get trapped in your own end, scrambling to get off…. That would settle more games in OT.”
They’ll also dry-scrape the entire surface before OT.
• Spin-o-ramas no longer legal on shootout attempts or penalty shots. Seriously?
Sometimes a spin-o-rama results in goaltender interference. Fine, then negate that goal. But the rest of the time, does anyone care that the puck may stop, or go backwards for a split second? This is one where the “integrity of the rule book” is robbing the game of much-needed goals. As it stands, goalies stop two-thirds of all shootout attempts. They don’t need any help.
• Fines for perpetual divers. Perfect.
As long as the offenders’ names get into the media (and dressing rooms), this will be highly effective. Peer pressure is still a powerful tool in hockey.
• Hash marks farther apart in offensive zones. Why not?
I’d rather watch a cleanly executed faceoff play that results in a shot on goal or a well-executed breakout than watch two guys battle over a puck until it’s square. If you’re a fan of the battle, this rule isn’t for you. Said St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong: “It eliminates the scrum along the boards and allows the quicker player to get to the puck and generate scoring opportunities.”
• A more liberal view on goals that deflect in off a player’s skate. Why not?
You still can’t intentionally kick a puck into the goal. But the puck can deflect off a player’s skate blade as he is stopping or trying to move it from skate to stick for a shot. This means more goals, more players going to the net, and more things happening down low.
Good for fans, bad for goalies. So the question becomes: Which of those groups pays to get into the games?
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