It’s been a dark NHL post-season with the league refusing to let its stars come out again

When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was giving his state-of-the-league address at the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, he transitioned to officiating.

“It seems every season,” Bettman started, “it’s a playoff ritual for me to address some aspect of officiating.”

Then he dismissed any notion there was anything to criticize. The referees are the best in the world. They have the toughest job in the world. Nothing to see here, move along.

But every post-season, we witness the same things: The refs swallow their whistles, they let the players play. That same day, Montreal captain Shea Weber violently slashed playoff scoring leader Nikita Kucherov in the third period, with an official standing right there. No call. Weber was subsequently fined $5,000 (U.S.) by the league, his second fine of the playoffs, but he didn’t miss a game.

Letting the players play ultimately means letting the cheaters cheat. And that glorious game of the regular season — of puck possession and dazzling passes and sleek skating — simply vanishes. And that’s the version of the sport that should be on display in the playoffs if the league is serious about winning over new fans and converting casual fans to avid fans. Instead, we’ve been getting a grinding brand of hockey that excites only coaches and fans of the two teams playing.

“The officials don’t want to determine the outcome of the game, But, in reality, they are determining the outcome because they’re allowing more penalties not to be called,” said Ray Ferraro, the former player and current TSN analyst. “You’re allowing players who don’t play a significant role to play a bigger role. And I don’t think that should be the case.”

If we’re all celebrating what Corey Perry can do in the playoffs instead of Kucherov, we’re celebrating the wrong thing.

These are the lowest-rated NHL playoffs in history in the United States, in part because they lack star power. Most of the league’s stars — the highest paid players who produce highlight magic on a nightly basis — were gone by the end of the first round, including Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, the unanimous winner of the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.

Somehow, the Winnipeg Jets played four games against McDavid without once getting called for interference or slashing or anything illegal against the game’s most dynamic player. Ditto the Chicago Blackhawks in the qualifying round last year. Seems fishy. Seems more likely the referees swallowed their whistles and let the players play.

McDavid was asked about the officiating after winning his MVP award. He started off by dutifully paying homage to the refs. But he did make a point.

“You have to perform under any circumstance and refs have such a tough job to do. I mean the game is so quick and things happen so fast, it’s hard sometimes for them to see,” he said. “However, I think you do wish that there was maybe a little more consistency.

“Obviously, that’s what we’re looking for as players and I think that’s what everyone wants. Just consistency throughout. The other sports have been able to do that from the regular season into the playoffs.”

Other leagues find a way of protecting their stars, so they can shine on the biggest stage, create those memorable moments and draw the biggest number of fans, Pass interference is pass interference in football. Quarterbacks have rules to protect them.

In basketball, the criticism is the other way, with complaints that the stars get too many calls. But basketball at least understands that fans want to see the stars make the plays, and gives them the space to do so. The whole idea of protecting the stars gives hockey people hives.

The NHL has to ask itself if it’s going down the right path. It has new media partners in the U.S. for next season, ESPN and TNT. And if the league wants to grow the game it had better find a way to keep the stars in the playoffs.

It’s simple enough. Call the rule book the same way it’s called in the regular season. The stars will find their way.

Ferraro suggested a summit of some kind, bringing the players, the teams, the general managers, the officials together to set standards for the dozen or so calls that are the most common, then stick to those standards from pre-season though the playoffs.

“What is a penalty will be understood, what isn’t a penalty will be understood,” Ferraro said. “I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Nor do I think it’s too intrusive. It doesn’t mean the games are going to be called perfectly, but at least you know what the standard is and what to expect.”