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When it comes to officiating a game or imposing supplementary discipline, there are three elements consider. First is the player's action. Second, there is the rulebook definition of the legality or illegality of that action, along with a protocol of penalizing that action based on its severity or intent. Lastly, there is the result of that action.
In terms of officiating based on the third component -- result of the play -- it can be something as simple as determining whether a team got a breakaway as a result of a borderline trip or whether a forward being grabbed and released was enough to prevent a scoring chance. Things get more controversial where reckless hits, stickwork and egregious acts like slewfooting are involved, and whether they cause injury or the victim is fortunate enough to escape injury.
My view is that there should be supplementary discipline for reckless or dangerous hits even if the victim is fortunate enough to avoid injury. Too often, the NHL goes only by the result. That heightens -- not lessens -- the danger of repeat incidents that tempt fate.
Part of a referee's duty is to keep the game as safe as possible for the participants. Along with keeping things fair, this is every bit as important as knowledge of the rule book.
The other day, someone asked me what I thought the most vicious play of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs has been. Was it Matt Cooke's kneeing of Tyson Barrie? Was it Brent Seabrook's hit on David Backes? Was it the various spearing incidents?
I don't know if I can say one play has been the "worst" of the postseason. What I can say is that it is disappointing that the NHL continues to go primarily by the result of the play -- i.e. whether the victim sustained a significant injury -- and not by the intent or sheer recklessness of the play.
One of the worst plays I've seen this entire season was committed by Pittsburgh's James Neal on New York's Jesper Fast in Game Three of the Rangers' series against the Penguins. On the play, Neal made a backhanded pass to Evgeni Malkin and then, seeing Fast skating by, "accidentally" brought his stick up in the other direction directly into Fast's face and tried to skate away as if he had no idea what he'd done. Replays showed, however, that Neal's eyes locked onto Fast and he knew full well what he was doing.
Fast, who lost at least one tooth, went down in a heap. Neal got a four-minute minor for high sticking. However, once again, there was no supplementary discipline imposed on Neal by the NHL because Fast did not sustain a truly serious injury.
That marked at least the third time this season -- there was also an infamous cross-check to the head of Detroit's Luke Glendening and a late-season slash to the back of Philadelphia forward Matt Read's head -- where the "Department of Player Safety" used the lack of serious injury as an excuse for inaction with Neal. It's a joke, but not a funny one.
In that same game where Neal high sticked Fast, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby was the receiving end of a cross-check to the back of his head or top of neck by New York defenseman Marc Staal. The same thing applies here: Because it ended up being only a glancing blow and Crosby was fine afterwards, that was the end of it. If the same play happened and Crosby ended up concussed, it would have been a major controversy.
Even with two referees on the ice, it is impossible to see every infraction that happens. I am also not in favor of leagues handing out suspensions and fines for anything and everything that could be construed as a tough hit.
Nevertheless, this whole practice of imposing discipline based more on the result than the action needs to be rethought by the NHL.
If someone stages a botched back holdup, and shoots at the security guard while fleeing, but the bullet (by sheer luck) misses or barely grazes the guard, the would-be robber has still committed two crimes even though he walked away with no cash and the guard was OK. A judge would still pass sentence on this person.
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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Today, Stewart is an officiating and league discipline consultant for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials. Stewart also maintains a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.
In addition to his blogs for HockeyBuzz every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Stewart writes a column every Wednesday for the Huffington Post.