Brad Marchand makes controversial statement on NHL officiating in the playoffs.

I must admit I would not have expected Boston Bruins star forward Brad Marchand to take this approach when it comes to officiating in the National Hockey League.

Fans around the league know that officiating in the National Hockey League has been a subject of much controversy over the course of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with a strong case to be made that they outright determined the outcomes of certain series. That being said though with the improvements made to technology around the world, including the cameras that recorded the games and the television sets you all own at home that broadcast them to you, it has become easier and easier for fans to notice mistakes and easier and easier for officials to be criticized for their performances. 

It is true that officials now have the added benefit of video review to make sure that the right call was made but that video review has grown ever more expansive and yet we still regularly see controversial calls made in the NHL. There is of course talk now that even more different types of plays plays could eventually fall under the video review system but it seems that not everyone is in favor of that. When Marchand was asked about the officiating in the playoffs he was actually quick to defend the officials and called for a ban on video review altogether. 

“Yeah get rid of the video reviews,” said Marchand as per Bruins beat writer Jimmy Murphy.

Now to be clear here Marchand is not suggesting that NHL officials are immune to making mistakes, quite the opposite in fact. However he does believe that the current implementation of video review creates a bad environment for the NHL officials on the ice and results in more harm than good. 

“That’s the problem,” Marchand said. “When you start bringing in all the video reviews, the ref’s are getting crucified and they’re out there just trying to do their jobs. You start taking it away from them little by little; then it’s going to escalate.

Now they’re going to want video review for pucks hitting the net or hand passes. So how much are you gonna take away from the refs? You start adding more video review, and it’s just going to snowball. So, the only way to do it is do video review on everything or nothing.”

It's a very interesting point from Marchand and one that I think he is hitting on the head. Part of me has to wonder though how much of this may not be his attempt to get on the good side of the NHL officials prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final.