Video replay is coming to a Western Hockey League arena near you.
The WHL has been tinkering with the possibility of video replay, and last week league officials were overseeing a project at Prospera Place in Kelowna that will get the ball rolling.
League officials were on hand at Kelowna’s home game last Wednesday as a video-goal booth was installed in press row. The idea is to use the system during the playoffs to help judge disputed goal calls.
“We’ve been talking about (video replay) for a while,” WHL director of officiating Kevin Muench told the Kelowna Daily Courier. “We’ve been using it in the final series for the past couple of seasons, and this season we’re going to use it for all the games in the playoffs.
“It’s been batted around for a couple years, but we wanted to make sure we had the proper equipment to do it.”
The video setup includes three video recorders, one a live feed of the action and the other two showing overhead views of each goal. Those videos feed the booth where a goal judge will be positioned.
The league has waited to forge ahead with video replay until every team in the league had the necessary equipment. That has now happened.
“We wanted to make sure that wherever we had video replay, everybody has the same system, the identical set-ups,” Muench said. “If we decide in the future to go ahead with this, we’ll be hiring staff to come in.”
Though the league is implementing the system for the playoffs, it has not been determined whether it will be used during the regular season.
“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Muench said. “Certainly going through the playoffs now will give us a chance to really evaluate the system and see the merits of it. We’ll review it at the annual general meeting this summer and make a final decision there.”
Around the WHL
The Tri-City Americans clinched their second consecutive U.S. Division championship when they defeated Seattle 4-2 Friday. With Vancouver (B.C.) and Calgary (Central) having also already secured division titles, that leaves just the East Division up for grabs in the season’s final week. … Prince George forwards Matt Cumming and Parker Stanfield escaped injury when their car was involved in a head-on collision last Tuesday. … Vancouver overage defenseman Craig Schira, who was an NHL free agent, signed a three-year entry deal with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. … Tri-City forward Mitch Fadden was named the WHL Player of the Month. The overager had 14 goals and eight assists in 12 games, including an eight-game goal streak. … Kelowna forward Colin Long was named the WHL Player of the Week. The 19-year-old Long had one goal and six assists as the Rockets went 3-0.
League leaders
Points — Casey Pierro-Zabotel (Vancouver) 111; goals — Joel Broda (Calgary) 51; assists — Pierro-Zabotel 77; penalty minutes — Matt McCue (Medicine Hat) 191; wins — Martin Jones (Calgary) 44; goals against average — Dustin Tokarski (Spokane) 1.98; save percentage — Tokarski .936.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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