Call The Rule Book
from Travis Yost of TSN,
Before the regular season started, the National Hockey League announced officiating changes for the enforcement of Rule 59, signalling a tightened standard for how cross-checking would be called.
It was an interesting action for several reasons. Chief among them: I think there was growing fatigue about the number of uncalled cross-checks in games, particularly during postseason hockey. The league is always trying to counterbalance entertainment value and free-flowing play against the threshold of what they consider to be a penalty, and for years it was skewing too aggressively in one direction. Off-puck players could get away with hammering forwards in the interior with no regard for any sort of penalty call (or the other player’s safety, for that matter).
It was also interesting because of the dialogue that has followed this season. One of the leading topics has been about the broader standard for officiating, with Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid in the centre of the debate.
McDavid, who can more or less carve up any defence at will, has drawn just nine minor penalties this season. It puts him in the top 10 league-wide, but anyone who watches these Oilers games knows that number could be 20 (or 30). Defences are doing whatever they can, most of which is illegal, to try and slow down the supernova talent.
So, the debate goes: Does the NHL need to call more penalties to improve the value of the product on the ice, not dissimilar to attempts made coming out of the 2004-05 lockout?
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