2024-25 NHL THREAD.

[Cusefan95]

A really bad call here. Montreal gets 2 minutes, Philly gets nothing. That being said Xhekaj's bad rep (that he more than earned with preseason stupidity) probably influenced the ref.
- Couturier puts a borderline hit on Dach (no penalty, which is fine)
- Xhekaj confronts Couturier him but nothing overly physical (referee calls that an "unsportsmanlike")
- Couturier drops his gloves first, then Xhekaj drops the glove (no penalty for either apparently)
- Seeler drops his gloves and jumps into the skirmish (no penalty)

I’ve noticed a trend this year, where officials miss an obvious penalty but then call a penalty on the immediate reaction from the opposing team. I’ve been wondering if officials have gotten some guidance from the league to try to keep play going and call fewer penalties, and there’s some kind of attempt to “train” players not to go for immedate revenge…if so, this was officials taking that a little too literally.

Whatever is going on, the early season officiating has been horrific.