Chief KHL referee takes a shot at NHL officiating

PUBLICATION

Sam Hutch
March 5, 2022 (12:17)

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The officiating in the National Hockey League has taken a hit in its credibility in recent years, arguably falling to an all-time low this year. With the ever apparent officiating tactic of "game management," one could say the product on the ice has taken a hit because of the inept officials the NHL continues to employ. Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh, but the League should at least look at holding them accountable.

According to Ivan Shitik, a correspondent for Sport Express, a KHL news site, the KHL Chief ref Alexei Anisimov believes the KHL standard for officiating is on par if not better than the NHL

I don't want to evaluate my North American colleagues, but, believe me, the number of errors in our country and overseas is fundamentally different. There are fewer here. For some reason, judges in Russia are only criticized. Club leaders are very worried about refereeing mistakes, although the most important thing is that they have now begun to understand that this is not happening because of a biased attitude.

Anisimov acknowledges that reffing a hockey game is not easy, but says that there are fewer in the KHL as refs are held to a higher standard. If mistakes are made, it's not due to things like "game management".

Anisimov also sights why he believes the standard for KHL officials is higher than anywhere else.

Sense of responsibility and motivation grid. The way the officials progress through the playoffs allows them to get a new contract next season. They think a lot about this. Of course, I would like to see less pressure on our officials, but so far the situation is like this.

He continues by saying, the disciplinary system in the KHL for officials is different than other leagues.

The punishment system has been around for a long time. Players don't know that judges have bonus and bonus parts in their salary. Depending on the job, the referee may not receive bonuses for the season. If the referee played a bad match, one to four percent of the ANNUAL contract is removed from him. Hockey players do not have this: no matter how they play, they receive a fixed part by their agreement in full.

Adopting a similar approach in the NHL could be beneficial. As incentive for officials to do a better job, the League could even look at increasing the rate of pay for the positions. Higher pay, but a new standard of officiating could be the key to the overall growth of the League.

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