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After last season which was filled with controversial reffing, it's refreshing to see the NHL take a step in the right direction.
Yesterday, the NHL announced a positive change to the rulebook for the upcoming 2022-23 season.
The rule change will give referee's the ability to use video replay to completely get rid of a major penalty, instead of just making it into a minor penalty.
According to "Scouting the refs" on twitter, this is the new rule:
Rule 20.6 previously only allowed the officials to confirm the original major penalty call or downgrade it to a minor. They now have a third option to wipe it out completely.
Here's the updated rule, change in bold:
The Referee shall have the following options after video review of his own call: (i) confirming his original Major Penalty call; (ii) reducing his original Major Penalty call to a lesser penalty; or (iii) rescinding the original Major Penalty altogether.
The old rule also required the officials downgrade the penalty to a lesser penalty of the same infraction. That is no longer the case. A major boarding penalty could, after review, be downgraded to a minor for cross-checking.
This change does not apply to match penalty reviews.
