Every once in a while you sort of stare at a story, put it aside for a while, come back to it and have no idea where it belongs but you know that it's really good and that you have to put it somewhere.
The long story is that ESPN's Katie Strang spoke with the coach of a team this biased blogger happens to believe has come up on the rough end of some discretionary calls in Mike Babcock, the NHL's director of officiating, Stephen Walkom, and the outspoken Kerry Fraser about the fact that, last Thursday, Jarret Stoll was assessed a penalty for tripping Brandon Sutter, but Sutter fell over (there's actually a video of this if you're interested)...
And the refs made the penalty call, had a chat and chose to rescind the call. Which is new:
Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser said it is not the first time this sort of thing has happened, and though it is customary to give the official closer to the infraction the benefit of the doubt, that’s not an absolute, especially if the other official feels confident enough to overturn it. After all, each official is granted the same authority on the ice.
"The way the officials handled that call was an excellent example of thinking quickly on your feet and doing what's right for the game when possible," the NHL's Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom told ESPN.com. "Hockey Ops and the officiating department want our guys to work together to get it right whenever possible. In this modern era of hockey you often see officials huddling or overturning each other to get it right. The handling of this situation, like video review, is always evolving to best serve the game."
The long story, and the thrust of the story, involves Fraser suggesting that in light of that Luke Glendening-"must have tripped"-Braden Holtby call, maybe the NHL's GM's and Board of Governors might be more willing to adopt something that NCAA hockey, AHL hockey and other leagues.
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