REPORT: Referees To Be Held Accountable For Poor Calls In Europe
European leagues are starting to hold their referees more accountable and the NHL should follow suit.
European Refereeing Policies
Recently, a post to Instagram has offered North American hockey fans some insight into how European leagues keep their referees accountable.
Multiple pro leagues in Europe such as the SHL have their referees go for postgame interviews to explain their side on controversial calls. It's a very similar setup to TV interviews with players where the people in the studio can fire off questions.
The leagues have seen positive feedback from coaches, players, and fans because they find it brings more respect to the game when the referees are viewed as humans who can explain their thoughts.
There have been times when the officials just flat-out say they made a mistake in the moment and apologize to the team/player publicly.
The leagues have seen positive feedback from coaches, players, and fans because they find it brings more respect to the game when the referees are viewed as humans who can explain their thoughts.
There have been times when the officials just flat-out say they made a mistake in the moment and apologize to the team/player publicly.
With this policy receiving positive feedback from almost every single party, it seems like a no-brainer for the NHL to implement.
Will the NHL Implement This Policy?
This seems like the perfect policy to implement. However, there are moments where a call affects the outcome of a game and the referee's explanation may not be up to par.
Gary Bettman almost certainly knows about the policy and could be looking to save his referees from any more criticism. It is also notoriously difficult to fire a referee out of the game due to poor calls and these unions could be preventing this extra layer of accountability.
However, it can be universally agreed upon by fans, players, and coaches that a policy for holding the referees accountable would be beneficial to the game.
| POLL | ||
Should the NHL have referees do a press conference to explain their calls at the end of every game? | ||
| Yes | 60 | 63.8 % |
| No | 18 | 19.1 % |
| Should have been years ago | 16 | 17 % |
| List of polls | ||
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