NHL announces a ''major'' change to the rulebook for the upcoming season
Last season, we saw the league introduce a rule that allowed officials to review plays such as double-minor high-sticking penalties and major penalties to determine if the correct call was made. This also gave them the ability to change the call from either a double-minor or a major to only a minor penalty.
This season, the league is making an addition to the rule. Officials will now be able to nullify a major penalty after video review. Rule 20.6 previously only allowed the officials to confirm the original major penalty call or downgrade it to a minor. They now have a third option to wipe it out completely. The rule now reads:
The change only applies to major penalties and situations already eligible for review so it shouldn't provide a big difference in how it is used, but it does give the officials a chance to get the call right.
Personally, I would have liked to see this addition to the rule extended to high-sticks as there are always a ton of high-sticking penalties where the player's own stick or teammate's stick made contact with their face. Once they extend the rule to that though, it would open up an entirely new can of worms for penalty reviews, so I understand why they didn't.
Either way though, we're all still waiting for the day when officials stop making calls based on "game management" and don't change the standards come playoff time.
| POLL | ||
7 SEPTEMBRE | 364 ANSWERS NHL announces a ''major'' change to the rulebook for the upcoming season Will officiating be better or worse in 2022-23? | ||
| I hope it will be better | 146 | 40.1 % |
| It's probably going to be worse | 122 | 33.5 % |
| It's always about the same | 96 | 26.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
