MANALAPAN, Fla. — For the first time since the start of the pandemic that shook the world – and stopped the hockey world – the game’s 32 commissioners gathered again.
All 32 NHL general managers in one room. Finally.
In the 24 months since the last general managers meeting in Florida, 11 new faces have joined the club – most recently Chicago’s Kyle Davidson – and a whole new franchise has entered the chat.
“It’s nice to see everyone again,” Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said.
“It’s really refreshing,” said NHL executive vice-president Colin Campbell.
And even though things (and people) change, many things stay the same.
Among the items on the agenda for the first day on Monday were updates on officiating from Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom, then from George Parros of the Department of Player Safety, as well as a presentation from the NHL Alumni Association and a roundtable discussion with Vice President Kim Davis and Respect Group founder Sheldon Kennedy and general managers on abuse, bullying and discrimination.
One of the hot topics was that of arbitration, where complaints almost never fail.
Officials Update
NHL officials have been under fire this season, there’s no doubt about it. Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog lashed out at the referees earlier this month, the same night the officials missed a blatant holding penalty on Toronto’s Auston Matthews in overtime against Arizona.
Walkom gave his usual presentation and general update on officiating, addressed any potential concerns and guided the general managers through the game evaluation process.
Contrary to popular belief among fans and teams, there is a standard rating for all matches. Managers have been reminded that calls (and non-calls) are recorded for each game and missed calls are made directly to the officials involved in the game.
Managers were also asked about a number of different scenarios, with the room asked whether a certain call should be made in that scenario.
“Sometimes you wonder when you get to these meetings when they’re going to break out, because the races are so close – especially in the West,” Campbell said. “I think we’re all concerned about what happens in the playoffs, because the first-round losers won’t be happy. A lot of the preparations for this game are about various things that could cause controversy (in the playoffs).
The NHL may have prepared, but executives said the temperature in the room was actually pretty chilly.
Breaking news: The NHL has admitted that, like any sport, its officials don’t always get things right.
“It’s not perfect,” Dubas said. “They recognize it. I think that’s the one thing Stephen did that was made clear here: the match goes by so quickly. We are not perfect: management, coaches, players. I think the positives are that when you talk to Stephen, once you’ve calmed down, he’s usually really good at going over things that they’re going through.
Monday provided a healthy dose of perspective for all.
“I laughed at first because I know it’s still a hot topic,” Dubas said. “But everyone is doing their best to do things right. Nobody wants to come into the game and make a big mistake. Nobody is really happy about it. You’re just unhappy about it. You win a match and everything went pretty well, you don’t do justice to the refereeing. You credit your team. When things go wrong – and we’ve had times like that this year – it’s easy to look at the refs and say it’s their fault. When that’s truly the case, you put yourself in a position where a single call can make and dictate the difference in the game.
“Do I have problems with this from time to time?” In every sport, everyone has problems with officiating. When you take the emotion out of the game, I think you understand. Nobody is perfect. We certainly make more mistakes than anyone.
Loose line edits
Daily Faceoff analyst Mike McKenna caught a malicious line change executed by the Anaheim Ducks in overtime on March 6 against the San Jose Sharks.
Adam Henrique came off the ice after winning a faceoff and Rickard Rakell flew out the door at the opposite end of the ice, just above the blue line, to replace the overtime winner.
McKenna called this the “scissor” change, where the home team uses a set play to gain an advantage based on the line change.
The Ducks made the call that night. But the entire sequence was shown to the general managers on Monday and they voted that yes, it was an illegal line change.
Managers were reminded that all replacement players must be within five feet of each other when executing a line change, which must be monitored by on-ice officials.
Cancellation of major penalties
On several occasions this season, NHL officials have gathered in front of the referee’s field and deliberated over a play in which an injury occurred.
The question: Should we impose a significant sanction to afford the opportunity to watch it again on video and be sure not to miss anything blatant?
On several occasions, an injury has occurred when there was frankly no fault of their own. But once a major penalty is assessed, it can currently only be reduced to a two-minute minor penalty.
NHL general managers have spoken in favor of giving referees the option to waive the penalty, which would allow no infraction to be called. The NHL also acknowledged that this could also open Pandora’s Box, where all questionable calls could be reviewed, but that is not its intention.
But it is possible that the NHL will move forward to be able to overturn a major penalty.
“At least they get a chance to look at it,” Campbell said. “When it comes to the playoffs, we always look and prepare for the playoffs: ‘What if?’ Game 7 of the playoffs. It probably shouldn’t have been anything. We’re happy now, but it’ll be a good conversation.
“They talk about it, we table it, come back to the June meeting, present it at the competition meeting and the board meeting, then ratify it with the general managers.”
$25,000 fines for coaches
NHL general managers were more or less zen about the idea of officiating on Monday – and for good reason. Campbell reminded them near the end of Monday’s meeting that they can also be fined for comments critical of the league, particularly regarding officiating.
A number of teams have been furious this season over what they considered harsh fines exceeding $25,000 levied against their coaches for incidents in which they were critical of or filmed berating officials during of a match from the bench.
“There are always comparables: “why this guy and why not mine?” “We’re tracking and watching everything that’s happening and we’ve finally reached a point where enough is enough,” Campbell said. “I’ve been there once in my life and you know when you’ve been through it. They know when they have crossed the line.
