5 Major Changes That Would Save the NHL

The NHL could use some help. Luckily, Pucks and Pitchforks is here to give them a boost. We make a few major changes that could make the NHL much more entertaining and level the playing field.

Jun 3, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks at a press conference before game one of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 3, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks at a press conference before game one of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports | Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
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2. Broaden Replay Review Policy

Goal reviews can be a pain and are sometimes insanely subjective, especially with what is goaltender interference, but it is not the only thing missing in real-time. Teams should be allowed to challenge a penalty with the very important point added to it that the maximum time for review is one minute to keep the flow of a game.

This season, when a player is high-sticked, some officials have gotten smart and called it a major just so they can review it and knock the penalty down with 100% knowledge that it was not a major. Instead of having to use a loophole like this, allow teams to make a challenge on some of these awful calls and put it in the coach's and video teams' hands to hopefully get it right more often.

A great example of this would be on plays where the referee only saw something out of the corner of their eye and, with a snap decision, made the wrong call on a hold or a blatant dive that was obvious to the bird' s-eye view. We all got it. It would probably take about 10 seconds for some of these to be put right if they are challengeable, and fans should be very happy with that idea.

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