A referee at the IIHF World Championship called out Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk for a dive during Thursday’s game against Team Canada.
“Sticks down here, boys! Sticks down!” the ref can be heard yelling on the ref cam. “No, no, come on! Hey!”
Tkachuk was battling with Canadian defenseman Zach Whitecloud as the Panthers forward fell hard to the ice.
“Matt! Matt! No!” yelled the referee. “You’re better than this, you’re better than this!”
No penalty was called on the play. Embellishment is covered under Rule 64 of the IIHF Rulebook:
Any player who “blatantly dives”, “embellishes” a fall or reaction, or who “feigns an injury” shall be penalized with a minor penalty under this rule.
Team USA fell to Canada 4-0. The Americans were eliminated, while Canada advanced to face Finland in the semifinals.
Officials for the game were Tobias Bjork (#25) and Andre Schrader (#27) with linespersons Oto Durmis (#64) and Anders Nyqvist (#68).
