Comments on: Evidence that NHL officials make fewer penalty calls late in games; A list of the worst offenders

By: When is a foul not a foul? « Queen City Family Man

When is a foul not a foul? « Queen City Family Man — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:17:41 +0000

[...] the sport. But what about in other sports? Is there some whistle-swallowing going on? One blogger analyzed penalties called in NHL games and found a significant drop in the number of penalties called in the third period. From his [...]

By: Pat - Igloo Dreams

Pat - Igloo Dreams — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:21:08 +0000

@Josh – That is interesting. I wonder what level of detail is available on AHL games…
@Mark – Maybe, but H&I are the big ones that drop. If they’ve set their bar, you’d think that some of the other biggies (Holding, Roughing, etc) would drop too… but they don’t… or, at least, not as much

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:56:26 +0000

Could this be interpreted as those refs having more control of their games? Instead of setting the bar of what will be/won’t be called in the 3rd period, they’re setting the bar in the 1st and 2nd periods?

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:37:11 +0000

What I find most interesting is that four of the first five have spent a LOT of time in the AHL recently (Moreso in the West Division as of late), and they are known around the AHL for swallowing the whistle in close games.

By: Pat - Igloo Dreams

Pat - Igloo Dreams — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:49:44 +0000

@Dollar Bill – I thought the same way you do at first, but other calls don’t decrease the same way in the third, or at least not to the level that these two do. Holding, Roughing, Cross-checking and Slashing are all essentially flat (or have slight drops)

By: Dollar Bill

Dollar Bill — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:04:00 +0000

Not very meaningful due to the way many games are played in the third period. Tie games, close games…. no one wants to take that 3rd period penalty that could change the outcome of the game.