Officiating in the NHL Continues to be Horrendous

Let's get this out there that this isn't coming from a point of bias due to myself being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.  It just happened to be three examples as of late.  Horrendous officiating happened all last season as we all know.

You can say that refs can't see everything.  But when it's blatantly obvious, that's when you have a problem.  On Saturday (December 4), the Maple Leafs were in Minnesota to play the Wild.  During overtime Marcus Foligno mows over Jack Campbell and lands a hit to the head.  Play blown down?  Why bother.  Not like it was a penalty over anything.  Foligno was untouched.  He could have stopped and not hit Campbell the way he did regardless of intent.



Last night (December 5), the Maple Leafs were in Winnipeg to play the Jets. Late in the third period Neal Pionk landed a knee on Rasmus Sandin.  Pionk didn't make a legal check and instead was out of Sandin's path when the incident occurred.  Sandin made a shot which is why Pionk was out of his path.  It was a knee on knee hit that could have been avoided.  Did the refs blow the play down and call a penalty?  Why would they?  It's not like Sandin was injured or anything.  It was his right leg that was injured and he had to be helped off the ice.

Sandin will be at least two to three weeks.  That's a big loss for the Leafs.

The NHL and NHL Player Safety handed down a suspension for the Pionk incident.  Warranted.  Pionk got two games for it.  The non-call is what increased it to two games.

"We acknowledge Pionk's argument that this is an attempted full-body check, but this play cannot be classified as merely a collision between two players, where one or both move reflexively or defensively at the last moment to avoid contact," said the department of player safety in a video explaining the punishment.

"If he wants to deliver this hit, the onus is on Pionk to take an angle of approach that ensures he's in good position to make a legal, full-body check. Instead, having taken an angle which has him lined up outside of Sandin's path, Pionk turns his right leg and extends his knee, jutting it forward to avoid missing the check entirely. This results in forceful, dangerous and direct knee-on-knee contact."

Here is a breakdown of incident.

Now, Jason Spezza retaliated with a hit on Pionk.  Sticking up for his fellow teammate.  That's usually what they do in most cases.  But the hit Speeza on Pionk was dangerous and could have been a lot worse.  The refs didn't make a call on this either.  If they did, there would have been a massive uproar.  Rightfully so if that did happen.



Spezza's hearing is tomorrow (December 7) via Zoom.  With the hit he did on Pionk, I can see them handing down a slightly longer suspension.  That's another blow for the Leafs.  Wayne Simmonds on the other hand was fined $2,250, the maximum allowable under the CBA for laying a stick into the back of an opposing player.  Simmonds cross-checked Jets forward Jansen Harkins.

Things need to be handled in the correct manner.  These suspensions and fines need to handed out if necessary.

Also during the Leafs and Jets game, Pierre-Luc Dubois kneed Joseph Woll in the head.  Call?  Why?  Just keep going with the trend of non-calls.  That's the standard and status quo for NHL refs.

As recent as this past summer, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman touted they had the best refs out of any sport.  Did he not see last season?  Tim Peel was fired and banned from reffing in the NHL after a hot mic take on wanting to call a penalty on the Nashville Predators last season.

"Nothing is more important than ensuring the integrity of our game" says hockey operations VP Colin Campbell.

Everybody can smell that bullshit.  If that's the most important thing, then the issue of horrendous officiating would have been dealt with.  But it's only dealt with when refs like Tim Peel are exposed via hot mic takes and want to look like they're doing something.  Brad Meier on the other hand doesn't have anything done to him.  They need to be tougher on refs and have them do better.

It's long overdue for Gary Bettman and Bill Daly to be replaced as NHL commissioner and deputy commissioner.  Find someone who will take a hard look at the issue and do something about it.  That won't sugar coat things and only do something when exposed.  GMs and owners need to put pressure on the league to make such changes.  This can't go on any longer.