Officials Expected to Call It Tight

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was adamant Wednesday that the league’s season-long effort to open up the game by enforcing obstruction penalties would carry over into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Playoff games have traditionally seen fewer penalties called, with referees reluctant to have a direct effect on games. That, though, won’t be the case this season, Bettman said during a conference call.

“I have instructed Colin Campbell [director of hockey operations] and Stephen Walkom [director of officiating] that if an official puts the whistle away, they should put the official away for the rest of the playoffs,” Bettman said. “How long an official works in the playoffs is discretionary. I guarantee the officiating standard from the regular season will not change in the playoffs.”

The NHL was largely successful in its effort to crack down on interference, holding and hooking, a reason that the number of goals jumped from 5.1 a game in 2003-04 to 6.12 this season.

Walkom said he would have a conference call with officials Friday to reiterate the mandate.

“If a player decides to hook or hold or commit a foul when an opposing player breaks to the net, the referee has to call it, even if it is a tie game or one-goal game,” Campbell said. “There will be a lot of screaming that the referee caused the outcome of the game, but that is what we have to endure to better the game.”

That would be welcome news to the Mighty Ducks, who open the playoffs Friday at Calgary. The Ducks have benefited from this season’s rule changes, whereas the Flames reached the 2004 Stanley Cup finals with a physical defensive style.

“That would be something you would look at after the [playoffs],” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said when asked if a change in how games are officiated would affect his team. “I would expect they would continue to enforce the rules of obstruction and over-aggressive play.”

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Sean Avery, the Kings’ controversial forward, had his first try at a broadcasting career end before it began. The Canadian cable channel Sportsnet, which hired Avery to be an in-studio commentator, pulled the plug on the deal Monday.

A spokesman for Sportsnet said, “After serious concerns were expressed directly and indirectly to Sportsnet senior management, it was decided that in the best interests of the network and Mr. Avery that he not participate on air.”

Avery did not respond to a request for comment. Bettman denied that the NHL had pressured Sportsnet to drop Avery, who the Kings removed from their dressing room after repeated incidents.

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King defenseman Brent Sopel will undergo surgery next week to repair a cracked knee cap, an injury he had when the team acquired him from the New York Islanders on March 8. Sopel arrived with “a strained right knee,” King officials said at the time. He played in 11 of 19 games after the trade.

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NHL attendance was up 2.4% from the last season before the lockout, with the league setting records for average and total fans.

The NHL played to 91.7% of capacity, drawing 20,854,169 fans for 1,230 regular-season games for an average of 16,955. In 2003-04, the league drew 20,356,199 for an average of 16,550.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.