Mixed reviews on NHL adding blue line cameras for playoffs

During the first day of NHL GM meetings, it was announced that cameras will be installed on the blue line to aid with coaches' challenges. So far, the decision is being met with mixed reviews.

The word out of Boca Raton, Fla., is that the league’s bigwigs are happy with the new coaches' challenge system, which was implemented at the start of the 2015-16 season. The one “in-season tweak” being made will be the addition of blue line cameras to help officials determine offsides calls.

Jonas Siegel of The Globe And Mail explained the change, which will go into effect during the upcoming playoffs:

Video coaches, who advise the head coach on whether to challenge such plays, will have access to the feeds of the new cameras. Campbell said the feeds will help video coaches determine whether or not to challenge in a quicker and more effective fashion. 

There will be two cameras set up for the blue lines, one on the glass boards and another four feet extended above the bench. The NHL tested the cameras at the All-Star Game in Nashville as well as the two most recent outdoor games. 

The cameras will be adopted for the start of the next regular season across the league.

It’s a move to help improve the new challenge “intended to further aid clubs in determining whether to challenge a goal on account of offsides,” Siegel reported.

On one hand, it makes perfect sense that the addition of the cameras would make offsides calls more “black and white,” as Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland reportedly said they should be. It would hopefully speed up the review process — there’s no question that long reviews can kill the flow of a game.

However, like all rule changes, there is some immediate concern from hockey viewers regarding the new cameras. There is the thought that cameras will create a “safety net” for blown calls, causing refs to sit back on their heels and rely too heavily a play getting reviewed. There is also the concern that the real issue with the review process is the tiny screens that the refs have to review the plays on, which Josh Cooper of Yahoo! Sports reported is “something that could be looked at moving forward, but wasn’t viewed as requiring an immediate update.”

With the cameras already being tested out at two outdoor games this season, hopefully their addition is a positive one that will help with reviews during these upcoming playoffs, when such calls can make or break a game.

Per The Globe And Mail, 61 percent (42 of 69) offsides challenges through play on Monday evening have been upheld this season — 27 of them have been ruled a “no goal” and overturned.