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Montreal Canadiens Shine Light On NHL’s Officiating Problem, But Don’t Expect a Quick Fix

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens Claude Julien argues his point with referee TJ Luxmore #21 during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on November 20, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens Claude Julien argues his point with referee TJ Luxmore #21 during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on November 20, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 16: Referee Michael Markovic #47 chats with linseman David Brisebois #96 (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 16: Referee Michael Markovic #47 chats with linseman David Brisebois #96 (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Speed of game, verbal abuse too much for refs to handle

How have we made it to the point where there are four officials on the ice yet there is no consistency with any rule in the book. What is a hooking penalty? Well, it seems to depend on several factors including the location on the ice, whether the puck carrier loses the puck or not, whether the offending team is already shorthanded or not, how cool the air temperature is outside, what the score is in the game, how many times Claude Julien had already yelled at the official…

So what has led the NHL to this situation? One factor is certainly the speed of the game. Every year the athletes are getting better and better by fine-tuning each individual skill. They have skating coaches and stick-handling coaches and constantly get faster and better at moving the puck. As a result the game is moving at warp-speed, yet the officials aren’t matching that increase in game speed.

Also, it takes a long time to develop an NHL official. Many of them started out as teenagers working the lowest levels of hockey and worked their way up. The problem here is that the abuse these young officials take is so outrageous that far too many promising young officials just quit after a year or two because it isn’t worth it to listen to the crazy parents in the stands yell about every single thing that happens in the game.

Imagine a parent of a teenager showing up at his kids Junior High School and standing outside the window of their classroom, yelling at all of the other students every time they made a mistake in math class. This person would be in handcuffs in no time. Yet, the same person goes inside a hockey rink and does the same thing and is mostly met with encouragement from other adults.

Meanwhile a 15 year old is on the ice dropping pucks for an atom house league game just trying to make a few bucks. Why would that official want to listen to parents scream at him from the stands every time a kid loses his balance and falls down. It’s not like the financial incentive is grand for these young referees. They would make more money getting a job at McDonald’s. So, a lot of them do get a job at McDonald’s and never ref again.

How does a sport develop a deep roster of great officials when many of the most promising ones quit due to the insane amount of verbal abuse during every single game they officiate?

There is a definitely a problem with the officiating at the NHL level. It will never be perfect, but it may never have been this far from being perfect. The same problems that happen in the NHL (missed calls, inconsistency) happen all the way down to the lowest levels of the game.

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