MILAN \u2014 One of the biggest changes since NHLers were last on the Olympic stage 12 years ago is how the games will be called.<\/p>\n
Without much fanfare, the NHL and IIHF have spent the last five years or so diligently narrowing the gap between rulebooks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last time the NHL players were at the Olympics, the rulebooks of the IIHF and the National Hockey League were significantly different,\u2019\u2019 Scott Zelkin, head of officiating for the IIHF, said in an interview with The Athletic on Tuesday. \u201cNot only standards, how we penalize different fouls, but also just the pure and simple labeling of penalties and what you can call different fouls.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last handful of years, those two rulebooks have come to the point where they are almost identical,\u2019\u2019 added Zelkin, a former NHL referee from 1997 to 2003. \u201cThere are a few nuances that are different, and the fans may see some differences, but in general, the rulebooks now are really, really close. So that\u2019s the first thing that in our mind is helping to standardize the officiating really across the world.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an IIHF tournament with an IIHF rulebook, but the overall sense is that a blended officiating standard will be unveiled in this men\u2019s Olympic tournament, which kicks off Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t an IIHF standard, there isn\u2019t an NHL standard, there\u2019s just a standard,\u2019\u2019 Zelkin said of how far things have come. \u201cAnd the standard is, call good penalties. Call penalties that impact the game in a manner that keeps the game safe and fair.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Which means, in theory \u2014 and we\u2019ll see how it actually plays out \u2014 the likes of Tom Wilson or Brady Tkachuk shouldn\u2019t have to deviate from their physical games at the Olympics.<\/p>\n
In the old days, the officiating standards were so different between the NHL and the IIHF that a loud hit, even if clean, was often a penalty.<\/p>\n
The idea now is that this blended standard means that\u2019s no longer the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not expect the game to have to change,\u2019\u2019 Zelkin said. \u201cWe want to let the players play. And look, whether it\u2019s the NHL or the IIHF, we go out on the ice striving to provide a fair and safe environment for the players. That\u2019s the same wherever you are on the globe. So whether you\u2019re Brady Tkachuk or you\u2019re Tom Wilson, or any other player that\u2019s playing, if you play in a fair and safe manner, then we\u2019re going to have no issues.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Probably where this uniform standard will be most put to the test is on illegal checks to the head. The difference in how that penalty has been called and interpreted in each rulebook has been pretty different over the past decade. But the hope now, with the IIHF and NHL working hard to narrow the gap in rulebooks, is that there won\u2019t be as noticeable a difference in the Olympic tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cA player who delivered a body check where the head is the main point of contact runs the risk of being removed from the game,\u2019\u2019 said Zelkin. \u201cI don\u2019t believe that is any different regardless of what part of the world the game is being played in.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be sure, that\u2019s the penalty that will be most scrutinized as far as how much the IIHF and NHL rulebooks have been brought together.<\/p>\n
But the mere fact that both sides have gone to this length to try to bridge the gap in rulebooks speaks to the relationship on the officiating side really improving over the past several years. Zelkin and his NHL contemporary, head of NHL officiating Stephen Walkom, have worked hard together with other officials as well to find that common ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne hundred percent,\u2019\u2019 said Zelkin. \u201cAnd that is the goal. The relationship between the NHL and the IIHF on the officiating side is excellent. When we talk about officiating, we\u2019ve had NHL officiating leadership at all of our major tournaments the last handful of years. We\u2019re talking to them on a regular basis. We\u2019re discussing things. We\u2019re working hand and glove together on all of this.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The NHL and IIHF held a camp in Buffalo back in August for the 26 on-ice officials selected for the Milan Olympics (13 from the IIHF, 13 from the NHL). All 26 were on the ice Monday evening in a skate that Walkom helped run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IIHF went through an exhaustive process to select the officials that are here,\u2019\u2019 Zelkin said. \u201cWe spent the better part of two years working with a group of officials that we slowly but surely pared down to the 13 that are here right now. And we did that through a couple of world championships, a couple of World Juniors and the Olympic qualifiers.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Between the camp in Buffalo and more meetings the last few days after everyone arrived in Milan, the group of 26 officials was reminded again of the expectations for calling the games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve gone through those subtle differences in the rules but also the expected standards and what we\u2019re going to try and do when we\u2019re out on the ice,\u2019\u2019 Zelkin said.<\/p>\n
The seven NHL refs working the men\u2019s Olympic tournament are Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt, Wes McCauley, Dan O\u2019Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kyle Rehman and Chris Rooney. The IIHF refs are Andris Ansons, Michael Campbell, Christoffer Holm, Mikael Holm, Jan Hribik, Sean MacFarlane and Andr\u00e9 Schrader.<\/p>\n
There was a call with the head coaches from all the teams in the men\u2019s tournament on Monday evening to discuss the officiating standard and what to expect in the tournament.<\/p>\n
There was also a separate call with all the video coaches to go over the rules for coach\u2019s challenge and video review at the Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as anything, it\u2019s meant to provide transparency and for them to understand where we\u2019re coming from and answer any questions,\u2019\u2019 Zelkin said. \u201cThe main message to the teams was, \u2018Look, we\u2019ve got the best players in the world here. This game, this tournament, is something we all feel privileged to be a part of. And we want to allow the players to play the game in a manner that\u2019s safe and fair. And we\u2019re going to step in and do things we need to do when we need to do it, otherwise we want to let the players shine.\u2019\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Sweden head coach Sam Hallam said Tuesday that the call was informative as far as knowing what to expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that they\u2019ve done a really good job merging because you have the international IIHF rulebook, which is a bit different than the NHL rulebook, so they just prepared us for a couple of things,\u201d Hallam said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just want to help us to put the players in a good situation and be prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n
While both rulebooks have come closer to each other, there remain some nuances, such as:<\/p>\n
Coach\u2019s challenge<\/p>\n
In the NHL, in the last minute of play in the third period or at any time in overtime, the Situation Room in Toronto can initiate a review. In the IIHF, teams must initiate a coach\u2019s challenge at all times in the game.<\/p>\n
But also noteworthy, the refs in the Olympic tournament won\u2019t have people in a Situation Room to help influence their decisions on video review. While they will be talking in a headset to someone helping them navigate what they\u2019re looking at, only the refs will be involved in making the final call on video reviews.<\/p>\n
Coincidental minor penalties<\/p>\n
In the NHL, it\u2019s four-on-four; here in the Olympic tournament, it\u2019s five-on-five.<\/p>\n
Fighting<\/p>\n
In the NHL, it\u2019s a five-minute major for each combatant. Here in the Olympic tournament, as per IIHF rules, each fighter gets a major plus a game misconduct penalty.<\/p>\n
Helmets<\/p>\n
Players back in the NHL must leave the ice or immediately put it on. Here at the Olympic tournament, players must immediately leave the ice when their helmet comes off.<\/p>\n
Neck guards<\/p>\n
Not required in the NHL, but mandated here in the Olympic tournament, both in warmup and games.<\/p>\n
Overtime<\/p>\n
Teams change ends in overtime in the NHL; teams do not change ends in the Olympic tournament for overtime or in a shootout.<\/p>\n
Penalty Shot<\/p>\n
In the NHL, the player fouled must take the penalty shot. In the Olympic tournament, any player (as long as he\u2019s not in the box) may take a penalty shot when one is awarded.<\/p>\n
Time Out<\/p>\n
In the NHL, teams may use their timeout in order to take more time to determine whether to challenge a play after a goal is scored. Not so in the Olympic tournament, as per IIHF rules, teams may not use a timeout in order to extend their decision-making time on a challengeable play. There are 45 seconds given after a goal to quickly see TV replays on the bench; that 45-second clock is displayed for teams to see. A team may take a timeout after a goal is scored, but the team must challenge before the timeout is taken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN \u2014 One of the biggest changes since NHLers were last on the Olympic stage 12 years ago…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,235748,575,10018,85],"class_list":["post-472911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mens-olympic-ice-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-olympics","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}