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Report: officiating will be front and center at next week’s GM meetings

Montreal Canadiens v Carolina Hurricanes

of the Montreal Canadiens of the Carolina Hurricanes during play at PNC Arena on March 7, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Grant Halverson

National Hockey League referees have been highly criticized this season and officiating will be a main topic of discussion when league general managers meet next week in Toronto.

“I got a call asking me if there was anything I wanted to put on the agenda and I said, ‘Officiating,’” one undisclosed general manager told the Toronto Sun, “and I was told another GM had already tabled 37 items to do with officiating.”

The latest frustration with officiating and inconsistent calls came from the Nashville Predators’ camp following a 7-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Predators coach Barry Trotz was not pleased with the officials’ decision following a video review of Jannik Hansen’s goal late in the third period.

He and defenseman Shea Weber also took issue with a hooking call to Sergei Kostitsyn that resulted in a Henrik Sedin penalty shot goal with less than three minutes remaining in the third period of what was, prior to the call, a one-goal hockey game.

The idea of a coach’s challenge, similar to that in the National Football League, has also been brought up.

Last month, Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Globe and Mail he was open to the idea of a coach’s challenge.