The NHL had its fair share of controversial calls — and no-calls, for that matter — throughout the 2018-19 regular season and Stanley Cup playoffs.
Of course, Boston Bruins fans remember the egregious missed call on Noel Acciari in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins also were were at the wrong end of a missed call when the Columbus Blues Jackets scored after the puck bounced off the protective netting. There also was the infamous hand pass no-call that led to the San Jose Sharks winning in controversial fashion in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals over the Blues. The Blues, as you know, went on to win the Stanley Cup in seven games over Boston.
Those are just three that come right to mind, and with the season now behind us, the focus shifts to next year. And commissioner Gary Bettman announced some rules changes that will be implemented come October that hopefully will correct two of those plays in the future.
Some things that were on the docket were what will happen to a player if he loses his helmet during play and some changes made to the video review process.
Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman broke down what’s to come in a Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141875614560899072
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141876156381011968
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141876314510467072
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141876601270890497
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141876833429815296
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141877304173289472
He started an entirely new thread to explain the new video review rules. Are you ready?
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141878402384683009
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141878631087480832
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141878806107414528
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141879148513644544
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141879395373596672
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1141881341568401409
It’s a lot of changes, and no one really will see how it will change the game until fans see one these rules take place. But we know one thing, we’ll never see a hit like the one Torey Krug laid on Robert Thomas in Game 1 of the Cup Final ever again.
