Update:
The Blues are considering both Iginla and Jagr due to injuries...
----------- The NHL announced yesterday that teams who challenge an off-side call and are wrong will no longer suffer a loss of a time-out. They will instead be charged a 2 minute penalty for delay of game.
This is the committee's attempt to fix the many off-side challenges we see...
Previously, the team would lose a timeout if the challenge was wrong, and I actually didn't have an issue with that. They only have one timeout and using that timeout does prove risky...especially when you might need that timeout following an icing to get a rest for players....
Oh wait...The NHL changed that too.. So now you CAN NOT call a timeout after an icing to get rest..I am actually curious if the icing rule change played into this one...That teams NOT being able to use a timeout for icing would be MORE likely to try an off-side challenge because...well why save the timeout?
Does it feel like the NHL is chasing its tail a bit here? Like two wrongs make a right?
The timeout after an icing and the coach's challenge loss of timeout weren't perfect , but they did at least offer some strategy to the team timeout.
And I am saying that half sarcastically, because to be honest how does the concept of "getting it right" turn into a timeout fiasco?
If a delay of game penalty is the "right" way to handle it, then why can coaches still challenge goalie interference and lose a timeout if they fail? Now there are two different systems in place depending on the type of challenge.
I feel like this whole issue is a bunch of people too close to the situation that they have forgotten completely why we have video reviews in the first place. And what the word "timeout" means!
We have video review to get the call right!!! We have timeouts for teams to be able to take a break and/or work on strategies.
That a team couldn't ice the puck just to get a break was OK, BECAUSE a team could use their 1 timeout if their team was too tired. It made for interesting conversations and debate at times...How many times were you watching a team trying to tie it up with their goalie pulled when you asked the person next to you..."Did they already use their timeout?"
The new rules concept
A team needs to be pretty damn certain a play is offside or else they will get a minor penalty...which will be a real problem given challenges follow goals allowed...So it means if the coaches are wrong they will not only have given up a goal but they will now be short handed...ouch!
What will ACTUALLY happen
1. This will lead to way less challenges, but it will also lead to many more goals counting that shouldn't have counted. Because we will all know from replays what goals SHOULD have been challenged. Is this really the result we were looking for when we allowed replays? That coaches will be taken to task for not being able to tell if a goal should be reviewed in the seconds they have before the puck drops?
2. When a coach does make a challenge and we get a VERY close call I can't help but think the coaches will be given the benefit of the doubt. After all if something is too close to call should they really be penalized?
3. Fans will get MORE upset at Referees than ever before..because fans will know whether or not the play was offside.
NONE of this is good.
The problem with the offside replays has not been that coaches are calling for it too often. The problem has been the fact that the offside rule itself hasn't been changed to simply be like an NFL goal line...Forget "did the skate leave the ice" and make it, "Was the player completely over the blue line."
What say you?
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