With the playoffs almost halfway done, there has been a ton of gritty playoff hockey already been shown this year. The games have been wildly entertaining this year, but one common theme between the games has been how many missed or wrong calls there have been this year. The inconsistency of the refs has been terrible this year, forcing players to feel like they have to sell calls just to get them. There has been a concerning amount of diving in the playoffs so far, so bad that it even gets referred to as an «epidemic» by the sportsnet panel.
Kevin Bieksa brings a great point of view here as a former player, where he talks about how some teams are built on the culture of trying to get any call they can. He also talks about it how players will talk to their teammates privately about playing with a bit more integrity, but it seems like most teams are fully bought in to trying to get any powerplay they can.
The Vancouver Canucks are definitely a team built on selling calls since their players have been caught selling calls all season. It got so bad for them that the NHL actually talked to head coach Rick Tocchet about the embellishments during round 1. They haven't gotten any better since, as they contribute a ton to the outrageous amount of flops in the Oilers-Canucks series.
Embellishing a call at times is a normal part of hockey, but when you look at some of the egregious clips taken during the playoffs you can tell it's gone too far. It has made it more interesting for the viewers due to more powerplays and more goals, but teams and players are beginning to lose their integrity for it. Referees need to take control of the game back, start calling more embellishment penalties when they see them and figure out how to counteract this embarrassing flop fest before it becomes even worse.
