TORONTO — Colin Campbell remembers his days as an NHL coach in the 1980s and 1990s. Although the league’s presence was felt during playoff games, no interaction was expected during a series with the teams.
Especially when it came to the hot topic of refereeing.
“I know there were guys watching the games back then, but they didn’t have someone you dealt with every day,” Campbell said. Athleticism during the weekend.
When Campbell joined NHL headquarters in the late 1990s, things changed.
“We started doing it, having someone every series. We made it official,” the NHL senior executive vice-president said.
The idea from that day on was to have someone present at every playoff for every round, who could act as a buffer of information between the referees and the clubs, which, well, can certainly sometimes happen. warm up.
But even to this day, little is known about series supervisors and what exactly they do.
“It all depends on what the general manager and coach want as far as how things go during the series,” Campbell said. “If you don’t want to be talked to, we’re not going to talk to you. We are just available.
And checking out what’s happening around the NHL this weekend, it turns out that how teams approach their relationships with the series supervisor really varies and what they get out of those conversations.
The supervisors of the first series are:
Some teams have a coaching contract with the supervisor, other teams have the general manager. Most clubs, however, decide to involve both.
“It’s a mix of both for us,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said Saturday via text message. “Usually for us it’s just a quick chat to make sure there’s nothing going on that we need to know about. If we have repeated complaints, we can voice them. Sometimes as a series goes on we may have some things we want to bring up, but usually it’s pretty basic if the officials have been pretty good.
Stars general manager Jim Nill said he and head coach Peter DeBoer met with their series supervisor, Don Van Massenhoven.
“The purpose of the meetings is to discuss different circumstances/situations in which one of the teams may believe that the other team is trying to/or taking advantage that crosses the finish line for competitive advantage,” said Nill Saturday via text message. “Are they faceoffs…are they line changes…are they scrimmages after the whistle, etc.…The supervisor is the eyes and ears of the series, without bias on victories or defeats. …A neutral vote for both teams and a good idea of the temperature of the series.
Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said he and general manager Kelly McCrimmon also hold those supervisor meetings together.
“The meetings are pretty general in scope,” Cassidy said Saturday via text message. “Revisit any incidents from the previous game…become aware of the types of infractions that are occurring…for example, faceoff interference, D getting cross-checked by his attackers during net-front battles. Post-whistle scrums are usually brought up by the supervisor once the series gets hotter.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said Saturday that he and general manager Patrik Allvin have both met with their series supervisor, Watson.
“The communication has been great,” Tocchet said via text message. “Brad is excellent in the way he explains things and handles team concerns. Everything is positive for me.
Barry Trotz attended these supervisors meetings for many years as a coach. He does it now as general manager of the Preds with his head coach, Andrew Brunette.
“We’re just talking about trends — calls that are happening — as well as opponents’ tactics,” Trotz said via text message Saturday. “It’s communication that helps us understand what they’re looking for.”
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery and general manager Don Sweeney also hold these supervisor meetings together.
“It’s a collaborative effort. Donnie and I are talking and we’re both talking with the supervisor,” Montgomery said Saturday morning during his pregame press briefing. “And for us, I think the league is doing a great job. It’s good to hear feedback from supervisors. And that’s what we’re looking for. Like what are the directives they give to their team (on ice officials) so that I can tell my team how to react and how to behave appropriately so that we listen to the supervisor and know what he wants accomplish and what we will call it. And we tell our players to behave appropriately.
Whether or not the name “Brad Marchand” comes up during these meetings, who knows.
Most teams meet with their series supervisor the morning of game days, although this can also vary, and in fact it has been a bit more hit or miss that way in the Bruins-Leafs series, where former referee McCreary is the supervisor. He has been overseeing the show for 13 years now, since he retired from officiating. Having an experienced hand like McCreary on a series pitting two bitter rivals is no coincidence. The league’s hockey operations, led by Campbell, decide the assignments of series supervisors.
Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe revealed Saturday that he opted out of those meetings, but would prefer to have general manager Brad Treliving handle them.
“First of all, every supervisor has a different style,” Keefe said Saturday morning during his press briefing. “Some are proactive and want to come check in and make sure you have nothing; others say, “Hey, here’s my number.” If you want to communicate, contact us, no problem. And every style has been good. I found that just because of the time of year, it’s emotional and there’s so much going on, I just let the general managers handle it.
“They have a pretty good idea of what we’re thinking and if we need support via video on something we have questions about, we make sure they have it. But that’s how it worked here in this series. Tree did this.
Like Treliving, Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell runs the series supervisors’ meetings (along with former umpire O’Halloran), he said Saturday.
“Before the series, the supervisor goes over the standards and then he is available every day if you have any questions or concerns,” Waddell said via text message. “This series (was) played hard but within the rules.”
For a new NHL head coach like the Oilers’ Kris Knoblauch, these meetings with series supervisor Pasma were “beneficial.” He participates in these meetings with veteran Oilers general manager Ken Holland.
But the idea of trying any ploy at these meetings is not realistic, Knoblauch said.
“You can complain about the calls and set the stage, but ultimately it has to go through a lot of players,” Knoblauch said last week. “I need to communicate this to the supervisor. He throws it to the match officials for that evening. And it probably has very little effect. I think it’s more Rod’s communication with myself telling me what they’re looking for and I can communicate that to my players. As far as gamesmanship goes, yes, I’d like to say I can influence them to call more holding calls (on the Kings) on McDavid, but at the end of the day it’s usually on deaf ears.
Kings coach Jim Hiller holds his supervisor meetings with general manager Rob Blake.
“It’s pretty casual. You get a chance to see what (Pasma) thought in certain situations, and then he gets our perspective,” Hiller said. “It just clears the air for everyone.”
Hiller is a first-time NHL head coach, but he had been in supervisors’ meetings before. And like Knoblauch, he sees no point in trying to influence officials through these meetings.
“I’ve been in some of these meetings before as an assistant at different points in my career,” he said. “So I saw different perspectives. These guys are professionals. They experienced these kinds of situations where people were trying to gain an advantage. I don’t think you’re looking to gain an advantage over anyone. I think it’s just good, mature hockey conversations. What I liked about it is that you get the perspective of the officials, they understand our point of view and surprisingly you often meet in the middle.
The supervisors travel as the series changes cities. They are there whenever clubs need to meet. The other important part of their job is meeting the referees and linesmen, who move from one series to the next. The supervisors update them on what’s happening on the show – what the temperature is like, what issues each club has raised in meetings, etc. This gives the referees an idea of what to look for that night in the game.
(Athleticism asked to speak with a series supervisor, but a league spokesperson said Colin Campbell was speaking to those issues.)
And finally, George Parros, the NHL’s head of player safety, relies on series supervisors if an incident arises requiring review or possible discipline. Parros wants to hear from the supervisor who was on the ice when the incident occurred and the circumstances of the game or series in general that help explain how things escalated.
Ultimately, while there are still head coaches who will express their displeasure and attempt to influence referees via media comments between matches, the reality is that clubs have long recognized that it is more beneficial to establish a courteous flow of communication with the series supervisors. .
Well, above all, courteous.
(Bill McCreary photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)