In Wednesday’s CHL round between Ilves and the French team, two penalty shots and two two-minute suspensions were awarded for one pass. Jyri Rönn, head referees of the SM League, thinks that the sentence is not reasonable.
Ilves unexpectedly lost 6–1 to the French team Rouen Dragons in the CHL match yesterday. Ilves, who played a convincing early season in the league, is in sixth place in the CHL standings, while the French team is 19th in the 24-team league.
The match saw an exceptional situation at the beginning of the second period. Ilves played underpowered when Samuli Ratinen intercepted the pass and shot through. Home team Rouen Dragons Sacha Guimond fought the Finnish attacker first in the central area and after that in the Dragons’ defensive area. Ratinen did not turn the situation into a goal. Match referee pair Nicolas Cregut (Sui) – Michal Baca (Pol) whistled two penalty shots for Ilves and two two-minute penalties for Guimond.
SM league referee director Jyri Rönn does not consider the sentence reasonable.
– My opinion is that when one foul occurs, one penalty is also given for it. Of course, if you want more goals, then this kind of punishment will certainly support it. But does that make the game more cautious? There is also an upside to that, Rönn reflects.
Ilves Ratinen and Emil Järventie the toughs were shooting. Despite the opportunities, Ilves did not manage to take advantage of two penalty shots or a double penalty.
Rönn, who has played the whistle for a long refereeing career, states that he is not responsible for the CHL, but knows that the league also uses the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF. Rönn confirms that there was a rule error in the situation.
– The CHL has IIHF rules in force. Therefore, only one foul and two two-minute suspensions should be judged for the situation.
Not the first time
A similar situation is known to have happened at least twice before.
In the under-20 World Cup 2019 played in Canada, Switzerland and Russia met in the opening round match. The puck flew to the middle area and the Swiss Marco Lehmann beat a Russian in a skating competition Dmitri Samorukov and thanks for the drive through. Samorukov knocked down Lehmann in the situation twice. Switzerland didn’t manage to score either tough goal. There were also no ice cream minutes awarded for the situation.
Also in 2009, two penalty shots were awarded for one situation. At that time, the event was seen in the US Hockey League ECHL between the Utah Grizzlies and the Alaska Aces. of Utah Vladimir Nikiforov was knocked down twice in a drive and Utah was awarded two penalty shots. Nikiforov himself got to try both times, but without result.