It was February 18th, 2013. In Denver, Colorado, the Avalanche were hosting the Nashville Predators. The NHL had started the season a few weeks earlier, after another work stoppage (which, hopefully, will be the last one in your lifetime).
It was Nashville’s 16th game of the season and the 14th for the Avalanche. It was a game between two teams that would finish the season in 27th (Nashville) and 29th (Colorado) place. In the grand scheme of the season, it was ultimately a nothing game, but it became a game that drastically changed the NHL — and not for the better.
Early in the second period, Matt Duchene scored a goal, even though he was clearly offside. It was a brutal missed call, and rather than be rational and see it for what it was, the NHL decided it was too embarrassing to overlook and became a massive talking point. S0 much so that 19 months later, at the start of the 2014-15 season, the NHL had a coach’s challenge in place for offside plays that led to goals.
Even though linesmen have made millions of correct calls, the NHL couldn’t get over this one missed offside call. For 19 months they kept talking about it until finally they got their wish. I’d love to speak with the individuals who pushed for this rule. I guarantee they regret pushing for offside challenges.
The initial rule was awful. We saw hundreds of goals called back, because a player’s skate wasn’t on the ice when he entered the zone. Even though his skate wasn’t actually in the offensive zone, it wasn’t touching the ice so they deemed those plays offside. Thankfully they changed that rule and deemed if a player’s skate, regardless of whether it was on the ice or not, was not across the blue line, he would be deemed onside.
The NHL has changed the rule once, and they need to again.
We are seeing way too many goals called back because a player is offside by the slimmest of margins, but the only way they see it is by watching the replay countless times in slow motion. The game isn’t played in slow motion. The linesmen and players don’t see in slow motion. It is impossible to ask humans to make these calls in slow motion, and the truth is there are times plays are whistled down for an offside, but if they reviewed it they’d see the player was actually onside. We live with the fact the play was blown dead and move on.
The NHL has to re-think its offside challenge. They will never completely abolish the reviews, but they should abolish being able to watch it in slow motion. It is a simple change.
Reviews are in real time only. The purpose of the rule was to avoid EGREGIOUS offsides, not ones where a player is a centimeter offside, and the review team has watched it frame-by-frame in super slow motion five times to finally see it was offside.
It is asinine to call these goals back. Because if you are going to review those, then why not review dump-ins from centre ice that aren’t deemed icing? How often do we see a player dump the puck in from his side of centre, but the play isn’t whistled down for icing? The play continues, and sometimes the team dumping the puck in scores.
If your argument is GET THE CALL RIGHT, then they should review every instance leading up to goals. You can’t claim you want the right call, but then only want specific things reviewed. But the NHL has done that because, let’s be realistic, it would be awful reviewing dump-ins from centre. They don’t review every play. Ask Vegas fans if the league should have reviewed the Cody Eakin crosscheck on Joe Pavelski in Game 7 of the 2019 playoffs. Eakin was assessed a five-minute major. It was clearly not a major, but the play wasn’t reviewed.
The Sharks scored a stunning FOUR goals on the Eakin major to take a 4-3 lead. Vegas actually tied the game in regulation, before Barclay Goodrow won it in overtime.
The missed call completely changed the game, but we lived with the human error. It happens, and everyone survived. The Vegas franchise didn’t plummet to the bottom of the NHL standings the following year. They moved on, as did the entire league.
I applauded the NHL when they realized their initial error regarding “skate off the ice” and fixed it. So, the precedent is there to continue to alter the rule and make it better. No one wants goals to count due to blatant offsides, but the truth is the Duchene goal is a massive outlier. The linesmen are great, and they rarely miss one. That was a one-off and the league should have realized it, but it didn’t, and now we are paying the price.
Stop the insanity. Offside reviews should only be seen in real time, and I’d argue a maximum of three views. If it isn’t obvious, then move on and play. And make sure your NHL partners only show the replay in the building and on television in real time. We are seeing too many goals called back off due to meaningless offsides. The rule needs to be altered.

QUICK HITS…

— The most hat tricks in a season by an active player was six by Auston Matthews last year. Mikko Rantanen tallied his third hatty last night in Pittsburgh. It was Rantanen’s 30th game of the season. The Avalanche franchise record is four hat tricks, set by Peter Stastny in 1983.
— Roman Josi has been on a for a league-most 43 goals against at even strength, which puts him on pace to be on for 121. It is crazy how rough things are in Nashville this season, even for Josi.
— Ten years after the original, the San Jose Sharks are back with another Christmas song. Solid. I’d give Nico Sturm the top performer.
— Of the 181 NHL D-men who have played at least 170 minutes 5×5 since December 1st, Darnell Nurse (260 min) has been on the ice for the fewest goals against at two. Dylan Samberg (181 min) has also been for two. Nurse has the best GF% at 80% and the lowest GA/60 at 0.46. While Nurse has been on the ice for two goals against Troy Stecher has been on for eight, Brett Kulak (11), Ty Emberson (12), Mattias Ekholm (16) and Evan Bouchard (17). Nurse has been the Oilers’ best defender by a large margin the past six weeks.

MONTH OF GIVING…

Thanks to Dustin for his bid on the Brick package and all who entered the Oilers/Lightning draw.
DAY 8: 🎁 Package #1: Fishing with Louie Debrusk – Get Hooked Fishing Adventures
  • You and two friends will have a full day fishing on the North Saskatchewan River with fishing enthusiast and Oilers colour commentator Louie Debrusk.
  • You will fish all day long at many different spots along the river, with catered lunch provided.
  • River fishes best August-October when water clarity is at its finest.
  • There are 26 different species of fish in the NSR, but you primarily catch walleye, pike, goldeye and sturgeon.
  • Mike from Get Hooked will also teach your group how to gold pan along the banks of the NSR.
 🎁 Package #2: Sanuvox HEPA Sterilization & UV Air Purification System – Supplied and installed by Mondo Mechanical
  • Sanuvox air purifiers are used around the world to dramatically improve indoor air quality and reduce symptoms of building-related illnesses by disinfecting up to 99.9% of airborne bio-contaminants in a single pass. Designed for homeowners who want the combined performance of HEPA filtration, UV air purification and odor removal in one self-contained unit.
  • *No VOCs, chemicals or ozone
  • *Helps reduce odors, mold, viruses and bacteria
  • *Helps improve respiratory health
  • *Continuous protection against airborne pathogens
  • *Helps reduce symptoms of illnesses and allergies
  • *Safe, eco-friendly and affordable
  • *Easy to operate and maintain
  • Installation included.
You can bid via text between 2-6 p.m. on Sports 1440 by texting 833.401.1440 (can call same number) and include your name and donation amount. Money raised will support The Christmas Bureau.