FanHouse Stephen Walkom

We're a little less than 24 hours removed from Friday's Red Wings-Blackhawks game, which saw Chicago claw its way back into the series with a 4-3 overtime win, while a lot of the debate has been centered around Niklas Kronwall's devastating hit on Martin Havlat.

While Havlat was knocked six ways from Tuesday, Kronwall was issued a five-minute major and a game misconduct for interference which set off a firestorm of discussion around the hockey blogosphere and message boards. Was it interference? Was it charging? Was it a legal, clean hit? We asked the NHL for comment.

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None of this should be surprising. Every year, there are a few controversial calls in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The same could be said for the playoffs in every other sport, too. Teams and their fans feel they were robbed by the guys in striped shirts intentionally, but it's never personal.

When bad calls happen, it's bad officiating, not some sort of conspiracy. Such was the case Tuesday night in Anaheim.

During Pittsburgh's 4-3 win over the New York Rangers this past Saturday, Colton Orr received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for interference on Penguins defenseman Mark Eaton. The call sparked some harsh reactions from the Rangers blogosphere and fan base, while head coach John Tortorella and goalie Henrik Lundqvist spoke out regarding the officiating in general following the game.

It's common to complain about the officiating in any professional sport, but the NHL in particular deals with a confusing and inconsistent disciplinary structure (where a sex joke might get you shelved longer than a hard elbow to the head).

It all prompted us to take a look at the power play/penalty kill differential for every team across the league. But we needed more; we needed some perspective from the league. Luckily, Stephen Walkom, NHL director of officiating, was more than willing to talk it out.

The upcoming retirement of long-time NHL referee Don Koharski is the only excuse we need to post the video of his classic, infamous, and hilarious confrontation with former New Jersey Devils head coach Jim Schoenfeld.

In the game against Buffalo, the Habs played a very solid, spirited 60 minutes of hockey while the Sabres took most of the second period off which cost them the game eventually. They certainly deserved their 2 points. What is noteworthy from this game is the sheer amount of clutching, grabbing, and interference allowed by the guys with the orange armbands, who, frankly I thought had left the ice to grab a brew for most of the game. This is what I call the Guy NHL, named after that great defensive forward and current Head Coach of the Habs, Guy Carbonneau. Watch Gary Bettman's nose grow the next time he says that the standard of what is and what is not a penalty has 'not slipped a bit.,' even though Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom admitted that the standard had changed to Sportsnet's Jim Kelley last week. Playing in Montreal on a Saturday night is like playing the game in quicksand and a time-warp to the late-90's all at the same time. If the Habs are fighting for a playoff spot, one can forget their team getting anything close to a fair game called.

The officiating was so bad and so non-existent in this game that one of the referees missed a blatant high-stick on Ales Kotalik by Francis Bouillon less than 10 feet away from him that dropped Kotalik to the ice for 20 seconds in the 3rd period with the score 4-2. I'm sure the Canadiens fans and the referee in question thought he took a dive, because you know, the Sabres are nothing but a pack of virulent divers. The Canadiens second goal was helped along by Chris Higgins riding Kotalik out of the play without the puck, thereby negating the back-check and leaving the Ty Conklin helpless to face down Radek Bonk. If it wasn't so predictable, it would almost be sad.... well, nearly as sad as the referees refusal to even talk with Lindy Ruff after the goal was scored while Ruff fumed on the bench.

The 'crackdown' on diving in this league has morphed into an opportunity for the referees to turn a blind-eye to the rule changes they never wanted to enforce in the first place. Count me as one of those who wouldn't mind the ticky-tac hooking call go the way of the dodo, but keep the restrictions on hitting guys without the puck on the back/fore/smite-them-hip-and-thighcheck. Defensemen are being run while set to receive a pass without ever receiving said pass. At a minimum that play is interference, at a maximum it's roughing or boarding. There are multiple rules that could be applied which are not.

That game was an object lesson as to why the NHL is ultimately a bush league. It's impossible to know what is and what is not a penalty. Until that changes, until the League realizes that the inconsistent standard of rules enforcement is the biggest obstacle to the casual observer understanding the game, the marginal status of the NHL that so many believe to be a problem will continue. When I have to explain to someone that well, it's hard to get a call in Montreal because it's, well, you know... Mon-Tre-al, and they look at my like I have 4 heads and speak with a lisp it's embarrassing when I don't have an answer for their saying that's insanely stupid and all I can do is shrug and agree with them.

During games like this one I have to wonder why the NHL doesn't just dispense with the 7 game Stanley Cup Finals and play one game of Last Man Standing, like in the Jimmy Caan classic of anti-authoritarian 70's cinema.

Ta,