The NHL brought coach’s challenge to the game starting the 2015-16 season. At first, it seemed like a good idea. A coach could challenge the call on the ice (a goal) if he thought the scoring team were offside or interfered with the goalie. Also, a coach can challenge the reverse of the interference, if a play is called no goal because of goaltender interference, but he didn’t think there was any interference. At a quick look, it seems as if this would improve the game. It would become more accurate. However, with nearly two seasons with the coach’s challenge, and it appears to be broken for three reasons.
Accuracy
The idea of the rule change was to make the game more accurate. However, it is questionable whether it has achieved this goal (pun intended). There have been many challenges on an offside call where the ref spends a large amount of time trying to determine if a player entering the zone lifted his back leg off the ice before the puck fully crosses the line. These calls are often painfully close and ultimately comes down to the judgment of the referee. It is a hard call to make, and can often swing a game. The goaltender interference call is also an almost purely judgmental call, and I’m not sure the ref will be able to make a much better decision when given the opportunity to review it than one the ice. Worst of all, however, is that it appears the refs sometimes miss blatantly obvious calls during the reviews. I know this has happened at least twice during Blackhawks games. First, when playing the Minnesota Wild, Q challenged a goal for offside, and after all commentators, including the “brilliant” Pierre McGuire, quickly concluded Parise was offside, only for the ref to come out and state otherwise. Just recently while playing the Blackhawks, the Avalanche challenged a goal on the grounds that the Hawks were offside. Again, the commentators agreed the Hawks were offside, and after a long time, the refs came out and said otherwise. Clearly, there isn’t much-added value of the coach’s challenge.
Time
The second issue with the coach’s challenge is the amount of time they take. The NHL tried to make it quick and consistent by having a war room in Toronto consult on every coach’s challenge. However, especially on closer calls, it takes a tremendous amount of time. This makes the game drag on, and often can kill the flow of the game. This same problem of a challenge taking too long occurs in every sport I can imagine.
Reduces Scoring
A lot of talk surrounding the NHL surrounds how to increase scoring. This actually came to fruition recently when the league mandated that goalies where tighter fitting pants. However, it seems as if the coach’s challenge only takes away scoring. This is partially due to the nature, as 2 of the 3 scenarios that can be challenged are in an attempt to have a goal overturned. Plus, having a no goal call due to goalie interference is almost never challenged, further increasing the proportion of challenges that are attempting to take away goals.
Ultimately, the coach’s challenge was rolled out with good intentions, but it just hasn’t worked. It still leaves a lot up to judgement, and isn’t much more accurate than the calls made on the ice. It is also slowing down the game, and takes much longer than it should. Finally, it really only takes goals off the board, something the NHL certainly does not want. So, what’s the answer? I’m not sure, but certainly not this.
