NHL video reviews help ensure the right call is made, but should reviews that take too long be deemed inconclusive? Referees Kyle Rehman and Chris Schlenker review a play in a March 19, 2024, matchup. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjEwMTcxNjc1MDI5ODA4MTU5/usatsi_22815706.jpg] Referees Kyle Rehman and Chris Schlenker review a play in a March 19, 2024, matchup. Over the years, the advent and evolution of video review in the NHL has been a welcome tool. It often makes calls on the ice clear as appropriate or incorrect, and it's a safety net for officials as they try to call an increasingly rapid on-ice product properly. From this writer's perspective, we don’t need less replay. We're all for replay if it can get us closer to ensuring the proper calls were made. However, our views on replay have also changed over time. We’re not too headstrong to tell you we can now see the point of hockey gatekeepers who were hesitant over the effect video replay would have on the product. Specifically, we’ve come to understand why NHL GMs and those who have an impact on the rules were reluctant to see replay as a cure-all, instead arguing that widespread replay would slow down the pace of the game while never making everyone happy. That much has come to be true. With replay now overseeing many types of calls, the game has been longer, and the subjective nature of many calls often leads to anger and frustration, the same way it does with calls that aren’t subject to video review. That’s why there needs to be a line drawn in the sand – a time limit for video replay that will improve the flow of games while still using video review wherever it can provide an obvious judgment that’s fair to all involved. For plays like goaltender interference, if the officials and NHL game-ops crew can’t find something to change the call within a short time span – say, two to three minutes – the call on the ice ought to stand. That’s not going to make everyone happy, but as we continue to see night in and night out, nothing will make everyone happy. Some people will want the review process to drag on as long as it takes to get a call made in their favor. And that’s not where the game should be heading. If the play is inconclusive after a short video review, the call on the ice is how it should stay. NHL video reviews help ensure the right call is made, but should reviews that take too long be deemed inconclusive? While we’ve long been believers in an eye-in-the-sky referee [https://thehockeynews.com/news/opinion-what-can-we-really-do-about-nhl-officiating] who can cut down on incorrect or missed calls, we’ve evolved our thinking to address those long delays that don’t really solve much of anything. The game needs to be firm in its on-ice decisions, but sitting back and wasting valuable time on decisions that aren’t always objectively accurate isn’t a good solution. On some basic level, we have to trust the officials whose profession is all about getting things right. Having a time limit on video replay doesn’t absolve officials of their responsibilities, but it does acknowledge the human factor. And you know what? The teams that ultimately win Stanley Cup championships often have to overcome calls that were made against them. Teams that had calls go against them and wind up losing usually can point to any number of factors other than one particular call that didn’t go their way as the bigger reasons why they lost. Those teams and their fans can hang their collective hat on a missed or incorrect call as their downfall, but that’s a loser’s lament. The best teams win in spite of missed or blown calls, and that should continue to be the case. If there were a world where all video replay calls are guaranteed to be correct, we’d have arrived in that world long ago. But the reality is that, in many cases, one person’s obviously correct call is another’s missed call. Not everyone can see the forest for the trees, and not everyone believes what the grand majority of others believe. Perceived mistakes are still going to be made every so often, and that’s about as good as we can hope for things to be. Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [https://info.thehockeynews.com/mail/microsites/951/1/gTeQVf?_gl=1*ustlbj*_ga*NjkyMzUxMy4xNjYzNjIwMzQ3*_ga_PK63FB1PME*MTcxMzUwOTExNi40NDguMS4xNzEzNTA5MjA5LjU5LjAuMA..]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or by visiting our forum [https://thehockeynews.rtb.io/THNHOME/posts].
