Soft penalty call on Matt Rempe exposes problem of over-officiating

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Noel Drolet
April 21, 2024 (3:05 PM)

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Matt Rempe has been one player who has taken NHL media by storm. He's had many insane fights, controversial hits and has already had an NHL suspension of 4 games. He's already stirring up some controversy in the playoffs, already taking a minor penalty on just his first shift in the series.

This seems to be one of his signature hits, coming at a player just slightly off the boards and obliterating any player attempting to play the puck. These hits are often questionably charges, or hits right to the back. This case however seems to be causing some controversy, with many debates over the hit and whether the penalty was warranted.

Despite the fact that Subban is known for being on the wrong side of controversy, I heavily side with Subban on this one. In the Stanley cup playoffs these are the best of the best teams and players have to be scanning play at all times, and this is a scenario where someone like Malenstyn (who received the hit) has to be aware of what is going on around them.

Despite Rempe's history, this hit seems very clean. He doesn't hit into the numbers, he doesn't hit the player too close into the boards and despite the charging call, it doesn't look at all like Rempe takes a run-up on Malenstyn or hits with excessive force. This hit looks very clean and it follows a scary track record of referees seeming to be more willing to call penalties so far this postseason.

The officiating in the Canes-Isles and Leafs-Bruins series have been pretty brutal already with way more penalties called than there should have been. Playoff hockey should be very generous with the officiating, but it seems like it has been very strict on called penalties. This could be bad for some teams as lack of discipline could be a huge issue for some players.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out and if referees are going to continue this trend of over-officiating games, but most hockey fans and especially players would love to not have to worry about playing their games. Hopefully the refs can figure things out, but no one wants to watch hockey drift away from the game it once was.