NHL GMs Propose Significant Change To Offside Challenge Rules
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NHL created a major problem when it instituted its coach's challenge for offside reviews. Now, the league is hoping to fix it.
According to Yahoo's Greg Wyshynski and NHL.com's Dan Rosen, NHL general managers proposed a new rule that will now penalize a team with a two-minute minor for delay of game if a team's offside challenge is not successful.
So, if a coach challenges a missed offside call after a goal and replay shows that no skater was offside prior to the goal being scored, then that coach's team will go shorthanded.
As Wyshynski wrote: "Imagine it's a tie game and then one team scores a goal. The other team considers a challenge on a close call at the blue line … and then it considers the fact that if the challenge fails, the scoring team would have a chance to follow this goal with another power-play goal. Kick, wham, stunner, and it's a two-goal deficit because you used the challenge. This is a nice deterrent."
The proposal has to be approved by the NHL Competition Committee as well as the Board of Governors, but if it's approved it could be added for the 2017-18 season.
The existing rule -- one which only requires a coach to risk losing a timeout -- has proven frustrating for fans. It came to a head in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, when a Nashville goal was taken off the board after a long replay review.
Presumably, the risk of going shorthanded will prevent coaches from challenging the extraordinarily close plays, as the risk-reward balance would shift dramatically. As a result, the league will be spared from lengthy review processes, which kill the pace of many games, and will also have fewer goals overturned on plays where the fraction of an inch of a skate blade played no significant role in the goal being scored.
