Mike Smith would like to see the NHL adopt more severe punishments for goaltender interference penalties. Smith’s comments, as seen on AZCentral.com, come after Montreal’s Carey Price was ran over by New York’s Chris Kreider. Price was ruled out for the series and the discussion over protecting NHL goaltenders hit a new high.
Smith dealt with injuries during the 2013-14 seasons and was toppled over by New York’s Derick Brassard. He commented on his injury and the topic of goaltender interference:
“They really solidified that in football when they brought in the rule of roughing the passer, and it’s a huge penalty for your team when that happens. I personally don’t think the penalty is severe enough for a goaltender interference call.”
There’s a little bit of irony here, isn’t there? Smith doesn’t exactly have a clean history when it comes to embellishment and diving.
Here’s a small look at his history of exaggerating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqczIChVBBQ
Smith loves to play the puck and loves to embellish when he receives contact. Of course he wants more severe goaltender interference penalties. Goalies probably should be protected more, but it’s kind of funny seeing Smith be one of the leading voices calling for change.
Reddit Hockey may have the best compromise for this situation. You can make goaltender interference penalties more severe, but you have to make diving/embellishment calls more severe as well. Actually, maybe just call the dives when they happen.
NHL General Managers are expected to discuss goaltender interference and protecting netminders once the playoffs conclude. Several ideas have been floated out, including longer penalties, stricter suspensions and even the possibility of using video replay to determine interference calls.
