COLUMBUS, Ohio — The moment on-ice officials assessed the Avalanche’s Ryan Graves a two-minute interference penalty for his injurious hit Sunday on the Golden Knights’ Mattias Janmark, just about every hockey fan watching it knew what was coming next.
It was a late, borderline high, hit delivered on a defenseless player in a 4-0 game midway through the second period. The Golden Knights’ response was predictable. Already being blown out of the series opener, Vegas looked for revenge with one of the NHL’s most notorious enforcers, Ryan Reaves, at its disposal.
Sure enough, the scrums got nastier, the hits grew more violent. Midway through the third period, with the Avs leading 6-1, Reaves cross-checked goaltender Philipp Grubauer in the back of the head after the whistle and then proceeded to throw Graves to the ice. Replays appeared to show the Vegas tough guy kneeling on Graves’ head or neck. It was an ugly incident, one that produced a match penalty for Reaves. There’s no question Reaves merited a suspension for his actions, and Monday night the league banned him for two games..
But could the end-of-game nastiness been avoided if on-ice officials had the opportunity to review the Graves’ check on Janmark? Maybe the referees decide to eject Graves or at least increase the penalty to a five-minute major, which would have allowed the Golden Knights a chance to score multiple goals in that time frame.
Ryan Graves delivers a late and high hit on Janmark who is down and injured. Graves assessed only a minor penalty for interference.. pic.twitter.com/pIuYkoXUU6
— NHL Safety Watch (@NHLSafetyWatch) May 31, 2021
I’m in the camp that believes video reviews already slow down sporting events too much. But on plays that result in injuries, officials should have the ability to look at all of them again to make sure they got the calls right.
Put a time limit on it — say 60 seconds — and have “clear and obvious mistake” written into the rule as the threshold needed to alter the decision. An off-ice official in the building or in the league office could take a quick look and deem there’s no reason for the referees to have another glance. In that case, no time would be wasted after the injured player was helped from the ice and order was restored.
Officials already are given the chance to review major penalties (non-fighting calls), match penalties and double minors for high sticking like the one issued to Vegas’ Max Pacioretty in the same game. It took referees little time to realize the penalty should be rescinded.
I thought Graves’ hit on Janmark rose to the level of a five-minute major. If the Avs score a few goals on the ensuing power play, it’s unlikely the Golden Knights are targeting Graves for retaliation the rest of the night. Maybe the officials look at the Graves’ check again and determine they got it right. At least the Golden Knights get officials to take a second look at the play.
Instead, it was a two-minute minor and “brace yourself for mayhem” that predictably followed.
YOUR TURN: Should NHL officials be given the chance to review all injurious hits?
