Nick Ritchie managed to hit Markus Nurme ten seconds before the judges intervened. Jyri Rönn, head referees of the SM League, says that Thursday’s situation went according to the textbook for the judges.
Flies Nick Ritchie burned out in Thursday’s SM league match against TPS. The Canadian, who moved to Oulu from the NHL team Calgary Flames during the early season, won the TPS golden helmet Markus Nurmen in the corner to the surface of the ice and started hammering this with his gloves.
Ritchie had time to mug Nurme barely ten seconds before the line judges intervened.
The situation can be seen in the X update below or from this link.
The head referee watched Ritchie’s actions from a close distance, raised his hand as a sign of punishment and tried to end the situation by communicating, but did not intervene in the situation.
SM league referee director Jyri Rönn says that the situation went according to the textbook for the judges. The chief judge’s job is to observe everything possible.
– If the head referee starts to interfere, and there are other players, for example, the referee would not be able to observe those situations. Then we would possibly miss something essential, says Rönn.
– The linesman started pedaling between the blue lines as fast as he could and got Ritchie out of the situation.
It took some time for the linesmen working on the blue line to arrive at the situation, because the corner of the rink is a long way from the line.
– We will go there as quickly as possible. It (intervening in violent situations) is part of the job description of the linesmen and, if possible, the head referees, but first they have to observe everything that is happening.
If both sides of the fight are standing, the situation is usually intervened for the safety of the referees only when it becomes uneven or one side goes to the surface of the ice.
– It is also important for the safety of the judges that they do not get between the fists, but intervene only when it is safe.
Rönn says that similar situations are always reviewed and analyzed with the judges.
Ritchie received a 5-minute penalty and a shower command for the situation. The situation progressed to the league’s disciplinary hearing.