Majority of NHL players agree with significant change for referees
Photo credit: The Hockey News
Fans and media have asked the NHL to make referees available for questioning after games, and now players are joining in.
Michael Russo of the Athletic recently polled NHL players, and a majority said that they'd certainly be in favour of making referees answer media questions. A number of anonymous quotes were shared from players explaining their thoughts.
«One hundred percent,» one player said, drawing a laugh. «Please.»
«So many situations are unexplainable, so they can explain it,» one player said.
Joked another, «We have to speak to reporters, so why shouldn't they?»
Added a third: «Ask three or four questions. I feel like it would change a lot of the way they officiate because they know they have to answer questions after games.»
- The Athletic's Player Poll
«So many situations are unexplainable, so they can explain it,» one player said.
Joked another, «We have to speak to reporters, so why shouldn't they?»
Added a third: «Ask three or four questions. I feel like it would change a lot of the way they officiate because they know they have to answer questions after games.»
- The Athletic's Player Poll
There's no doubt referees have a difficult job, and sometimes they will make mistakes. However, that shouldn't stop them from facing accountability or even explaining their views after games.
Still, this won't be changing anytime soon. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly recently stated that referees will not be made available to questioning, but did say that if a big issue warrants a statement or explanation, it will come from the NHL.
If the NHL is concerned that making refs available to questioning would only cause controversy, they should instead find a way to improve the refereeing to limit any potential controversies. In the age of quick video reviews, there's really no excuse for a major sports league to butcher so many calls like the NHL does. Fans and players both see some referees calls as «unexplainable», and after the incident involving Tim Peel, it's fair for fans to want more information from refs.
Referees won't be answering media questions for now, but if a majority of players feel this strongly about the issue and believe it could improve officiating, maybe it arises in the next CBA agreement after the 2025-26 season.
As any other year, there will be controversies with the refs this upcoming season. The Edmonton Oilers have learned in past playoffs - teams need to win on merit alone, despite whatever curveballs the refs throw at them.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 19 | 94 ANSWERS Majority of NHL players agree with significant change for referees Do you think referees should be made available to the media? | ||
| Yes | 73 | 77.7 % |
| No | 20 | 21.3 % |
| See Results | 1 | 1.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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