Recently retired NHL referee Kevin Pollock picks up a new gig as the Ontario Hockey Association’s Director of Officiating, summer camps are underway including the NHL’s second trip to Europe for a Summer Officiating Combine and the upcoming NHL Officiating Exposure Combine in Buffalo.

NHL stripes are keeping busy with their owne camps and charitable ventures, like linesman Steve Barton’s charity golf tournament. The AHL hands out some more hardware with Shaun Davis picking up the Michael Condon Award while the ECHL hands out some more assignments as the league moves to have 50% of games officiated by a two-referee system for 2024-25.

Rule changes in Canada as Hockey Canada mandates full face protection for Under-18 players and western Canadian leagues adopt the WHL rulebook. Speaking of safety, Todd and Josh look back at some of the last helmetless officials, including Mick McGeough and - of course - Kerry Fraser.

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Visit scoutingtherefs.com and follow @scoutingtherefs and @toddlewissports on Twitter/X, Instagram, and Threads. Email us your questions - heyref@scoutingtherefs.com #RefsPodcast

Questions? Comments? Just looking to vent? Call the RefLine and leave us a message at 585-484-REFS! #RefsPodcast

The Scouting The Refs Podcast is a weekly look at the world of officiating and player safety within the National Hockey League, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world. We'll break down the calls and the rules behind them to help understand why a penalty or suspension was - or wasn't - handed out.

Todd Lewis is a veteran broadcaster covering the NHL and other major league sports. Lewis is a former host on the NHL Network and on NHL Network Radio. He’s also worked for TSN, Sportsnet as a host/anchor and is a producer of other programs.

Josh Smith is the founder of Scouting the Refs, the leading independent site related to hockey officiating which follows hockey officials across the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world, including news, rule changes and interpretations, suspensions, and statistics on officials and penalty calls.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 259 days and 1,400 games, the 2023-24 NHL season is finally over! We look back at Games 6 and 7 of the Stanley Cup Final:

Game 6: The Edmonton Oilers win a critical offside challenge against the Florida Panthers. That one took guts... but should we even be reviewing plays that close? What about 'the spirit of the rule'? Where's the line? Also, Florida's Sam Bennett gets dumped right before an Oilers goal, with no call on the play. Should there have been one?

Game 7: With only three penalties in the game, each one was huge -- including two minutes to the Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk for tripping as he slid into - and took out - the Oilers' Warren Foegele. Should the refs be calling this at all? Especially in a Game 7? Why does that matter?

The NHL's new rules are coming for 2024-25, including puck over glass challenges and penalties for sitting on the boards. We'll break down the changes and their possible impacts to the game.

The ECHL makes some promotions and expands their officiating management team, with longtime NHL linesman Tim Nowak and former AHL/ECHL/IIHF referee Tim Mayer joining Riley Yerkovich. Also, USA Hockey taps ref Andrew Bruggeman as their Coordinator of Youth Officiating Development.

Wes McCauley give us a history lesson on hand signals - via the Big Whistle Bill Chadwick - as part of the NHL's American Sign Language Stanley Cup Final broadcast.

Another year of Hockey Hall of Fame Inductions without an official heading in. Kerry Fraser is long overdue. #VoteKerry

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Visit scoutingtherefs.com and follow @scoutingtherefs and @toddlewissports on Twitter/X, Instagram, and Threads. Email us your questions - heyref@scoutingtherefs.com #RefsPodcast

Questions? Comments? Just looking to vent? Call the RefLine and leave us a message at 585-484-REFS! #RefsPodcast

The Scouting The Refs Podcast is a weekly look at the world of officiating and player safety within the National Hockey League, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world. We'll break down the calls and the rules behind them to help understand why a penalty or suspension was - or wasn't - handed out.

Todd Lewis is a veteran broadcaster covering the NHL and other major league sports. Lewis is a former host on the NHL Network and on NHL Network Radio. He’s also worked for TSN, Sportsnet as a host/anchor and is a producer of other programs.

Josh Smith is the founder of Scouting the Refs, the leading independent site related to hockey officiating which follows hockey officials across the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world, including news, rule changes and interpretations, suspensions, and statistics on officials and penalty calls.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's #RefsPodcast, we roll through Games 4 and 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers!

Game 4: Edmonton's Darnell Nurse has a kneeing major penalty downgraded to a two-minute minor... but was there embellishment on the play? And can we make a rule change that'll help the refs when there is? No penalty on a hit by the Panthers' Kyle Okposo on Leon Draisaitl - nor should there be. No penalty on an Anton Lundell hit on Edmonton's Cody Ceci - nor should there be. Florida's Aaron Ekblad delivered a hit from behind into the boards on the Oilers' Warren Foegele with no penalty called.... okay, on this one, there should've been a call.

Game 5: Florida's Sam Bennett gets away with charging on Dylan Holloway... and Bennett also gets away with clear goaltender interference on the Oilers' Stuart Skinner, who was clearly in the blue paint at the time of the collision -- not that it matters in this case. We'll explain why. Holloway and Matthew - not Keith - Tkachuk both go off on a hook and a dive, respectively. It looked like the right call at the time, but video evidence might give Tkachuk the benefit of the doubt here on a possible trip on the play. Watch the wobble. The Panthers' run 14-0-1 run - 5-0 in the playoffs - under referee Dan O'Rourke comes to an end.

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Visit scoutingtherefs.com and follow @scoutingtherefs and @toddlewissports on Twitter/X, Instagram, and Threads. Email us your questions - heyref@scoutingtherefs.com #RefsPodcast

Questions? Comments? Just looking to vent? Call the RefLine and leave us a message at 585-484-REFS! #RefsPodcast

The Scouting The Refs Podcast is a weekly look at the world of officiating and player safety within the National Hockey League, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world. We'll break down the calls and the rules behind them to help understand why a penalty or suspension was - or wasn't - handed out.

Todd Lewis is a veteran broadcaster covering the NHL and other major league sports. Lewis is a former host on the NHL Network and on NHL Network Radio. He’s also worked for TSN, Sportsnet as a host/anchor and is a producer of other programs.

Josh Smith is the founder of Scouting the Refs, the leading independent site related to hockey officiating which follows hockey officials across the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and other leagues around the world, including news, rule changes and interpretations, suspensions, and statistics on officials and penalty calls.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.