Now boarding… a whole bunch of NHL players. Breaking down the past week’s boarding calls – and non-calls: Oilers’ Kane on Wild’s Brodin, Sabres’ Robinson on Canadiens’ Barron, Panthers’ Cousins on Jackets’ Gudbranson — who decided to avenge the hit by taking the law into his own hands. The Wings’ Perron took the same approach, picking up a six-game suspension for a crosscheck to the face after an injury to Larkin.

Should players answer the bell for legal hits? Why does the NHLPA only seem to care about its suspended players, rather than the victims of their crimes?

Todd and Josh break down a pair of penalty shots, including Panthers’ Tkachuk vs. Canes’ Kochetkov and a Zuccarello shootout goal after a pokecheck. We’ve also got a Devils’ Smith slewfoot, an unsportsmanlike for Preds’ Watson, and more.

 

 

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The Scouting The Refs Podcast is a weekly look at the world of officiating and player safety within the National Hockey League, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world. We’ll break down the calls and the rules behind them to help understand why a penalty or suspension was – or wasn’t – handed out. 

Todd Lewis is a veteran broadcaster covering the NHL and other major league sports. Lewis is a former host on the NHL Network and on NHL Network Radio. He’s also worked for TSN, Sportsnet as a host/anchor and is a producer of other programs. 

Josh Smith is the founder of Scouting the Refs, the leading independent site related to hockey officiating which follows hockey officials across the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world, including news, rule changes and interpretations, suspensions, and statistics on officials and penalty calls.