Bruins general manager Don Sweeney met with reporters Monday afternoon before the team flew down to Florida for Tuesday’s Game 5. Naturally, the main line of questioning was about Sam Bennett’s controversial goal in Boston’s Game 4 loss , Bennett’s sucker-punch that injured Brad Marchand in Game 3, and the decisions made by NHL officials on both.
Sweeney did not tear into the refs or the league the way many Bruins fans would have liked, noting that he would get fined if he did and that he was not trying to do that. He did, however, call for more transparency from the league, saying that officials should be made available to the media to answer questions.
“We're not in a position to be criticizing officials and the league,” Sweeney said. “That's standard protocol. We'll get fined as a result of that, so there's no intention on my point to be critical. The overall premise that I have is, to be perfectly honest with you, we should not be asking the coach after a game what they feel about the officiating and what happens. You guys should really be focused on what we didn't do well enough in the course of the game to win a hockey game.
“Those questions should be directed at either the supervisor of officials, the supervisor of the series, and/or the officials. You want full access and transparency? Then put the officials in front of the microphone to answer the question.
“Because they're the only ones that have the experience to be able to handle whatever interpretation they applied, to rule 69 in that case, to answer your question. That's it. So, the rest of us… clearly we challenge it because of our interpretation, right? So, the only ones that can answer that -- don't put out a statement, just stand in front and answer the question. It’s as simple as that.”
The problem is that it’s not really as simple as that, because the NHL does not make any of those people available to the media. Other leagues have a process for a pool reporter (one reporter designated by the press corps, rather than a full press conference) to speak to officials after games, but the NHL currently does not.
The only explanation anyone gets is a brief statement put out by the league explaining why a call is either upheld or overturned after review. This was the NHL’s full statement on Bennett’s goal:
“Video review supported the Referees’ call on the ice that that the shove by Florida’s Sam Bennett on Charlie Coyle and the subsequent contact with Jeremy Swayman did not prevent Swayman from playing his position in the crease prior to Bennett’s goal.”
Sweeney was asked if more transparency from officials is something there’s been any sort of push for at the annual GM meetings, and said only that it’s been discussed, but that any decision on whether it actually happens is above his pay grade.
Sweeney was also asked a couple questions about Bennett’s sucker-punch on Marchand, which resulted in an injury that kept the Bruins’ captain out of Game 4.
The best angle of the play, which clearly shows Bennett’s punch, did not surface until TNT showed it pregame on Sunday. Sweeney said that was also the first the Bruins saw that angle. He was not sure if or when the NHL saw that angle, but ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported a short time later that the league also did not see that angle before Sunday. She added that the new angle would not change the NHL’s mind on punishment, however.
Sweeney reiterated his call for transparency, saying someone from the Department of Player Safety should be publicly answering questions about their decision to not punish Bennett.
“The Department of Player Safety needs to make a statement on how they interpret that situation,” Sweeney said. “We’ve seen every angle that you can possibly imagine. No different than when Brad himself has been called to the carpet and comparables are looked at. That’s their job, their responsibility to protect the players. And we have to respect that, whatever their judgment is.”
As for Marchand, Sweeney said that he skated Monday morning and was traveling with the team to Florida. He is still considered “day-to-day” ahead of Game 5, but Sweeney did say he was feeling better. WEEI’s Rich Keefe reported over the weekend that Marchand is in concussion protocol.
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