NHL Does an NFL on Goalie Interference Rule

Here's just possibly the dumbest sports saying out there:

These [NHL, NFL, MLB, NBA] dudes are getting paid to play a kids' game.

Wrong.

Every damn one of the four major sports -- as well as most other pro sports -- were created by adults to be played by adults. They were young men, to be sure, but adults nonetheless.

The munchkins picked them up because they wanted to do what the adults were doing.

 

However, with the NHL following the NFL in making a mess of their rule interpretations, it's enough to wish it was the kids who were calling the shots.

They don't know as many words, and in this case, that might be a good thing.

 

OK, not every rule. Just the tough ones.

Like goalie interference. How hard is it to describe when a netminder doesn't have a fair shot at making a play on the puck?

Who knew that was a rhetorical question?

 

Sorry. Adult word.

There's a hella lotta adult words in the NHL's Rule 69, where definition defers to judgment often enough to have as many interpretations as there are referees on any given night.

So, this is what happens when gray area meets an official's gray matter on any given night:

 

Harsh. What could've been Pittsburgh shaving the score down to a two-goal deficit, the Pens get a penalty and give up a goal on the ensuing power play.

With Crosby & Crew spending the 2018 portion of their season trying to chase down Alex Ovechkin and Washington in the Metro Division, that was a huge burn.

 

Similar incidents are too numerous to cite, and among other things, they're making a mockery outta the playoff hunt.

As with the NFL, you know the leagues have crossed a line when their fans have no idea why certain calls go certain ways with no continuity in them whatsoever.

The NHL's governors took a different approach from their gridiron 1%ers:

• They decided Rule 69 has too many cool adult words to dick with, so
• They decided to consolidate who dicks with them on any given night.

 

There's an added advantage to this format, too.

Since the call's being made from far, far away, the ref announcing the decision -- and an adorable audience segment of kidsters watching their heroes -- shouldn't see near as many telltale lip reads as Mike Babcock's:

 

Instead, they'll have more opportunity to broaden their horizons of more contemporary jargon.

 

Not only will this allow for more versatility in parental discourse, it'll also better prepare them for doing what adults do in the games they're copying.

 

Well, turtling is a skill, too.

Just ask Brad Marchand.