The Club | The number of referees, throwing the ball on the ground in the NFL and… the Canadian(s)?

Here is our latest batch of answers to your questions, to accompany your Monday morning coffee.

Two referees versus one referee

If I remember correctly, the addition of a second referee in the NHL was to help “see” unpunished infractions. Of course, the players know they will be more exposed with two referees rather than one, but I don’t think it made a big difference to the number of penalties awarded. Are there more penalties now than last season to a referee?

Denis Laplante

Response from Guillaume Lefrancois:

The NHL has employed two referees per game since the 1998-99 season. Last season under the old regime, teams were allowed 4.64 power plays per game, according to Hockey-Reference. Over the next two seasons, that average dropped to 4.38 and 4.03. So indeed, there was a drop, not an increase, but “the players have a capacity to adapt, recalls Stéphane Auger, former referee, now an analyst at TVA Sports. Players won’t get caught 16 times for the same infraction! »

There are also a host of other factors to consider. For example, in 2005-06, the number of power plays per game, per team, jumped to 5.85, but that was the result of much, much stricter enforcement of snagging rules.

Last year, the power play average per game was below three for the fourth straight season. In this case, one wonders if the valuation of skills and speed by scouts does not end up excluding players who are more focused on robustness.

In which area?

In hockey, when a player receives a penalty during a game, the face-off usually takes place in the zone of the penalized team. However, I have seen a few times the face-off take place in the neutral zone. Is there a rule that I don’t know?

John Dufresne

Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:

There is indeed an exception, which is quite subtle. It occurs when, after the stoppage of play, a crowd forms in the back of the territory and attacking players go beyond the face-off circles. At this time, the next face-off will take place on a point in the neutral zone.

Throw the ball to the ground

When a quarterback intentionally gets rid of the ball by making a pass that does not cross the line of scrimmage, there is a penalty. But why, when he does it by stealing the ball to stop the clock, is there no penalty? Still, it is indeed an intentional incomplete pass behind the line of scrimmage. Help me understand, I’m a bit confused.

Robert Sasseille

Response from Nicholas Richard:

You’re right, an intentionally missed pass to avoid backing up and losing yards is penalized. However, there are some exceptions, as you described. According to Article 3 of the NFL Rule Book regarding the ” intentional grounding “, or in French, the idea of ​​intentionally throwing the ball away, it is permissible for a quarterback near the center player to stop the play dial, if the ball is immediately thrown to the ground after the face-off without starting a backward movement. In other words, if it is clear that the quarterback has only the intention of stopping play, the action of getting rid of the ball is permitted.

The Canadian(s)?

I am intrigued by the way the media and the public too often refer to the Montreal Canadiens hockey club as “the Canadiens”. The club is not made up of a single player. Moreover, the official website of the hockey club makes systematic and unequivocal use of the term “the Canadians” rather than “the Canadian”. Nevertheless, The Press and its journalists persist in resorting to the use of this reductive and too often read or heard expression.

Christian Renders

Response from Mathias Brunet:

That’s an excellent question. We have already discussed it a few times internally. The organization itself employs “les Canadiens”, as does in-house announcer Michel Lacroix when he announces the home team’s goals in his suave voice: “Le goal des Canadiens, scored by number 22.. .” In the Quebec business registry, however, your team is listed as “Club de hockey Canadien Inc.”, in the singular. On the Stanley Cup, over the decades, we find both “Canadians” and “Canadian”. To The Press, the bosses have decided to opt for the official name, in the singular. The newspaper’s language advisor, Lucie Côté, points out that other media also follow this convention, for example Radio-Canada, The duty Where The Journal of Montreal.