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No coach’s challenge expected for next season

2013 NHL Draft

NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 30: General manager Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes attends the 2013 NHL Draft at Prudential Center on June 30, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Hey, remember that report like two days ago that said a coach’s challenge was likely to be instituted for next season?

Yeah, that was probably premature.

“There’s merit to it,” said Coyotes general manager Don Maloney after meeting with his counterparts today in New York. “It seems to make sense. But our game is not like football or baseball. There are seven or eight minutes of continuous action in our game where in other sports there are seven seconds of action and then there is a stoppage. The hard part for us is defining the criteria, when it can be used and how it can be used without destroying the flow of the game.”

To illustrate, consider this potential example: A goal is scored after five minutes of whistle-free action. But hey, 30 seconds into the five minutes, it sure did look like there was an offside. Could a coach challenge that? Or, could he only go back 30 seconds? Or, could he not go beyond the last possession? And if he could challenge it, would they then have to put 4:30 back on the clock if the goal was overturned?

And what if instead of offside, it was a hand pass? Or an illegal line change? Or, uh, somebody didn’t have their jersey tucked in properly? Could those be challenged?

“It’s defining the areas and defining the criteria,” said Maloney, “That’s when it gets muddy, and that’s where we’re at right now.”

Bottom line: there’s support for a coach’s challenge and, by extension, more video replay. It’s just the details they haven’t hammered out yet.

Maybe by next year.

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