Should The NHL Allow Video Review For Uncalled Headshots During A Game?
Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad was suspended for elbowing Brandon Hagel in the head, but he wasn't penalized when he did it.
Now, Hagelwon't play for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 of the Battle of Florida, while Ekblad scored the tying goal in Game 4's comeback win for the Panthers.
There were only four people in the world who had the power to do anything about it during the game. And in the NHL, infractions that are called can be reviewed but not ones that aren't.
That should change. We're not lobbying for a review of every infraction, but if the NHL wants to further prevent and punish head contact, it has to get this right. Whether that's having an eye-in-the-sky official who has the power to call headshots or giving the control room in Toronto the power to intervene and have the officials review them, something has to be done.
Today's video column has more.
Get thelatest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and bysubscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting belowthe article on THN.com.
Copyright 2025 The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former Sharks Head Coach Lands New Gig
Yesterday, former San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner landed a new job in the NHL as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders, joining Ray Bennett, who was also hired by the team. Boughner will work under Islanders head coach Patrick Roy as they look to turn the franchise around. During his time with the Sharks, Boughner posted a record of 67-85-23. He was originally named interim coach after Pete DeBoer was fired and went on to spend three seasons as head coach from 2020 to 2022 before being let go. Advertisement He previously served as an assistant coach with the Sharks from 2015 to 2017, before leaving to become the head coach of the Florida Panthers. After being fired from that role, he returned to San Jose. For the past three seasons, Boughner was the associate coach with the Detroit Red Wings, working under both Derek LaLonde and Todd McLellan. He'll have his work cut out for him with the Islanders. After a disappointing season that ended early, the team landed the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and now has a chance to reshape its future. Boughner will be a key part of that process on Roy's coaching staff as they look to get the Islanders back into the playoffs. Sharks Should Avoid Buying Out Marc-Édouard Vlasic This Summer Sharks Should Avoid Buying Out Marc-Édouard Vlasic This Summer The San Jose Sharks have a lot of questions that need answering this summer. Will they try and move up in the draft? What's the plan for their players on expiring contracts? Will they look to land a big fish in free agency? There are plenty of unknowns—but one question that shouldn't even come up is whether the Sharks should buy out Marc-Édouard Vlasic. Macklin Celebrini Finishes Third In Calder Voting, Lane Hutson Wins Award Macklin Celebrini Finishes Third In Calder Voting, Lane Hutson Wins Award San Jose Sharks' forward Macklin Celebrini was a finalist for the Calder Trophy this past season, and while he had a strong campaign and made a push to win the honour of being named rookie of the year, he finished third place in voting behind Calgary Flames' Dustin Wolf, and Montreal Canadiens' Lane Hutson. Sharks Could Be Eyeing Michael Misa With Second Overall Pick Sharks Could Be Eyeing Michael Misa With Second Overall Pick Now that the 2025 NHL Draft Combine is officially in the books, this is the time of year when rumors start to filter through—and one of the latest involves the San Jose Sharks. Former Sharks Coach Relieved Of His Duties By The Dallas Stars Former Sharks Coach Relieved Of His Duties By The Dallas Stars Former San Jose Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer was relieved of his duties on Friday, as the Dallas Stars officially announced his firing. The move comes just days after the Stars were eliminated from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. How One Free Agent Miss In 2018 Led To A Blockbuster Trade For The Sharks How One Free Agent Miss In 2018 Led To A Blockbuster Trade For The Sharks With NHL Free Agency less than a month away and one of the headliners being John Tavares, it's a good time to look back seven years to when the San Jose Sharks came close to landing the biggest fish of the 2018 free agent class.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
At 23, Panthers' Anton Lundell knows his playoff success isn't typical
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Anton Lundell knows how fortunate he is, considering how many good, young Florida Panthers of yesteryear didn't get a sniff of the playoffs. Let alone go on playoff runs. Olli Jokinen, Stephen Weiss and Jay Bouwmeester played seven postseason games with the Panthers. At least Jonathan Huberdeau was part of Florida's first playoff round win in 25 years before he was traded to Calgary in 2022. Advertisement But Saturday night, when the Panthers play Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton, Lundell is scheduled to play his 76th playoff game. And he's just 23. In Lundell's four seasons, the Panthers have made the playoffs every year and have been to three Stanley Cup Finals in a row, winning one last year. He's won 11 playoff rounds — or seven more than the Minnesota Wild have won in their 24 seasons. Just consider that it took Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov nine years to win a playoff round and Aaron Ekblad eight. 'I know it's not normal,' Lundell said. 'You try to kind of soak in everything around here. But at the end of the day, it's hockey. That's what I love to do, and that's what we're here to do.' Reminder: Anton Lundell is just the 4th player in NHL history to skate in 75 playoff games before turning 24. — Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) June 13, 2025 In Thursday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Oilers in Game 4, Lundell scored his sixth goal of the playoffs, doubling last year's total. And, frankly, while he may be centering the Panthers' third line with Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen, a case can be made that the Lundell line has been Florida's best during Lundell's attempt to win another championship. 'They've been unbelievable all year, and even in the past, and I think a lot of the times, they really didn't get the appreciation that they deserve, how hard they play and how skilled they are,' said Panthers veteran Carter Verhaeghe. 'It's really kind of gone under the radar. They definitely could be top-six on any given team, and I think playing with Marchand has really been great. That line has been probably our best line throughout the playoffs, so they can defend. They're so good defensively and, obviously, have a really good offensive touch that I think is really underappreciated. They're one of the big reasons why we're here.' Lundell, known as 'Baby Barkov' because of how his foundation is so similar to that of his mentor and countryman on Florida's top line, has continued to improve due to the playoff experience he continues to accumulate. 'He plays well above his games played status, or his age status,' defenseman Seth Jones said. 'He's a super smart player, playing unbelievable hockey for us right now, even garnering some of the harder matchups on that line.' Coach Paul Maurice has talked often about how Lundell's defensive acumen has always been there (career plus-70). But the Panthers felt there had been untapped offensive potential after an 18-goal, 44-point rookie year as a 20-year-old. He's had 12, 13 and 17 goals since and just hit the 45-point mark this year. Maurice feels that Marchand's arrival late in the season has done wonders for Lundell and Luostarinen by almost forcing them to think more offensively. Lundell has assisted on three of Marchand's goals in the series, including his two breakaway goals in Game 2 and his goal in the opening minute of Game 3. THAT WAS QUICK!! 👀 — x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) June 10, 2025 Maurice also credits GM Bill Zito for seeing it all along. 'Before I came for the first training camp, he said, 'Wait until you see this kid. He's going to be great. It just takes some patience to let him develop his game,'' Maurice said. 'Anton Lundell is a Bill Zito draft (pick), and he was his champion for the last 2 1/2 years, and he was right.' Advertisement The Panthers didn't practice Friday after surrendering a 3-0 lead the night before and losing a chance to take a 3-1 series lead as the Oilers stormed back. They instead met at the Fort Lauderdale airport for another long flight to Edmonton. Players echoed what was said Thursday night and felt they'll be able to turn the page on such a disappointing defeat. 'I think our mindset is always playing for that Game 7,' defenseman Gustav Forsling said. 'But that's always our mindset, so we're calm and confident, and if we play our game, we know we're going to win most games. 'We obviously didn't like our second period. They took some momentum and really capitalized on it. That's hockey, though. It's big swings, but we did a good job coming back and took it to overtime.' It was the second time in the series that the Panthers gave away a multiple-goal lead to the Oilers in a loss. Asked if there was anything common between the two, Maurice said, 'No.' He doesn't feel the Panthers are sitting back: 'We're not sitting on it for 40 minutes thinking that we're going to go. I think that the team that's behind's risk profile changes a little bit. You get four up the ice quite a bit more. You're down the wall quite a bit more. You're not as worried about the result of a bad play because you need one. (That's what) changes.' Maurice said he didn't expect to make any lineup changes for Game 5. Since 2023, the Florida Panthers are 6-1 when playing in a Game 5 on the road. The only game they lost? The Vegas Golden Knights Cup-Clinching game in 2023. They have won four straight Game 5's on the road. The Oilers have played one home Game 5 in the past two years,… — Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) June 13, 2025 Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed 14 goals in four starts in the series. Stuart Skinner has allowed 16 and has been pulled in two straight games — and will likely find himself as the backup to Calvin Pickard in Game 5. Pickard improved to 7-0 by winning in relief Thursday night. Yet, Maurice has gone out of his way to praise the goaltending on both teams, saying after Thursday's game, 'From my point of view, there's been phenomenal goaltending in this series. The numbers say I'm lying, the final score says I'm lying, but the goaltending's been incredible.' Advertisement He continued that theme before the Panthers' flight Friday. 'Sergei made some big saves last night. So did Skinner in the games, and sometimes it changes,' Maurice said. 'The goaltending has been right on. And I don't think you look at a regular season when it's a 5-4 game, you're not very happy. I don't think anybody's cheating the game out there, right? There's nobody being lazy on the back check. They're just two really powerful offensive teams. 'I don't do the analytics on the goaltending. It's all chances for and against. And then the 'A' chances off one of the reports last night are really high. It's in the teens from both teams, about even, but really high. So a little bit more deep. I guess defending is the key to the next one.'
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
As NHL's ‘old guys' dominate Stanley Cup Final, will it affect how teams are constructed?
EDMONTON — A Stanley Cup Final for the ages is being served up with a distinct touch of gray. It features the NHL's second-oldest starting goaltender in 36-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers, who has been scored on twice already by 40-year-old forward Corey Perry. The Edmonton Oilers are now riding with a 33-year-old journeyman backup in their crease, Calvin Pickard, and the coaching staff turned to 33-year-old Jeff Skinner when searching for a lineup spark entering Game 4. Advertisement Meanwhile, at age 37, Panthers forward Brad Marchand has put himself in the Conn Smythe Trophy conversation, while helping elevate a line centered by Anton Lundell, who at 23 is Florida's youngest regular skater. As the NHL's championship series enters Game 5 tied 2-2 on Saturday night, perhaps we can chalk up the Panthers' and Oilers' ability to keep exchanging momentum-swinging haymakers in this series to their tenured rosters. 'I've heard this a million times this year: I think we're the oldest team in the NHL,' said Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm, a 35-year-old appearing in his third Stanley Cup Final. 'Having all of that experience on our side is huge in situations like this, where you've got to go game by game, you've got to go day by day and just make sure that you don't let that flow into each other too much.' Among the 32 goals scored through the opening four games of this final — the most since the 1981 series between the New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars — just two came off the stick of a player below the age of 25. In fact, the average cumulative age attached to each of those goals is 31 years, 83 days — well above the league average from the regular season. What does that tell us? Well, the NHL is starting to skew a little older, which can be seen in the average age of players jumping from 27.1 years during the 2017-18 season to 28.3 years in 2024-25. And when the games matter most, some of the NHL's most successful franchises seem to be growing increasingly reliant on the stability offered by a player much closer to the end of his career than the start of it. The lesson was internalized a long time ago by veteran Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who remembers scratching a 37-year-old Paul Coffey with the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 1 of a series against Boston Bruins in April 1999, only to see the Hockey Hall of Famer rejoin the lineup and play more than 30 minutes in Game 2. Advertisement 'The older guys have a perspective that young players don't,' said Maurice. 'Young players can be great, but I think you can almost be assured that you're going to get the very best out of your older players in (the) playoffs.' That's certainly been the case in a Stanley Cup Final where we've seen Perry score a tying goal with 18 seconds left in Game 2, only to have Marchand reply with the double-overtime winner. They're among a number of intriguing veterans who are set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1 — a list that also includes Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Matt Duchene and John Tavares, among others — which begs the question: Will the success of the Panthers and Oilers affect the team-building strategies of other rivals? There was a mixed response among the player agents and team executives contacted on Friday. One GM indicated that age doesn't tend to be a major factor in decisions except when it comes to a player he already has other reservations about, while a second GM said that he's always valued experience when trying to build a contending team and has only had that idea reinforced by seeing how the in-season additions paid off for Edmonton and Florida. A third team executive noted that it's important what kind of team is adding the graybeards, noting that the Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings are among the teams who have seen minimal return from adding veteran free agents in recent years to cores that weren't strong enough to maximize them. One veteran player agent said he thinks the Stanley Cup Final will influence how other top teams approach roster construction. 'You need some youthful exuberance and speed and all of that, and yet you need to mix that with maturity and calmness,' he said. 'The blend and having clear roles is the key.' Advertisement Ultimately, the unique era preceding this one may have skewed expectations for rebuilding teams. The Pittsburgh Penguins reached the Stanley Cup Final with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on entry-level contracts immediately before the Blackhawks accomplished the same feat with Kane and Toews driving the team. Stepping back, those situations look more like outliers than the rule — with the majority of franchise-level players reaching age 25 before their team wins a Cup. All of Florida's top players were north of that age when they captured last year's championship, while Connor McDavid (28) and Leon Draisaitl (29) are in a similar window while trying to wrestle this one away from them. If the Oilers manage to win it, the 40-year-old Perry will have played an important role, too. He spoke up during the first intermission on Thursday night with his team trailing 3-0 and Edmonton managed to pull off an epic comeback afterward. Perry did something similar while playing for the Montreal Canadiens in 2021, when they recovered from a 3-1 series deficit against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1 before going on a run to the Cup Final. 'It wasn't wisdom,' said Perry, when asked about his speech. 'It was just honesty.' 'I mean he's been in the league for over 20 years so he's been through everything,' added teammate Jake Walman. 'Nothing can faze him and he's just kind of rubbing that off on us.' At the risk of ignoring some of the other contributors to an unforgettable Game 4 that included a three-goal comeback, multiple lead changes, a last-minute tying goal and an overtime finish, the two youngest scorers in this series both had big moments. Lundell struck in the final minute of the first period to make it 3-0 for Florida before Vasily Podkolzin, a fellow 23-year-old, tied it up for Edmonton at 15:05 of the second period. Podkolzin also sent the pass to Draisaitl on the play where he won the game in overtime. 'You know what? We're like an old team,' he said. 'We have so many old guys, we are pretty calm usually. I am calm with them.' (Top photos of Brad Marchand and Corey Perry: Perry Nelson / Imagn Images and Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
