Kris Knoblauch calls out the NHL for poor refereeing

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Finnegan Frost
October 16, 2024 (1:29 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers have had somewhat of a rough start to the 2024-25 NHL regular season, but it's also come with some bad luck.

According to Liam McCormick of Oilers Daily, In just four games, the Edmonton Oilers have found themselves on the wrong side of goalie interference calls three times, and now the coach is asking for an explanation.

Goalie interference calls have been confusing NHL fans in the last few years with the difference of what is and what isn't considered an infraction, and Knoblauch is feeling the same. The Oilers coach said after the game that the NHL that he has no clear idea what goalie interference is anymore.

REPORTER: Do you feel you have clarity on what is or isn't goaltender interference?

KNOBLAUCH: Well, I saw the goal that got disallowed today in Vancouver. I thought that was very similar. So I guess to answer your question, no I don't.

During yesterday's victory against the Philadelphia Flyers, Russian phenom Matvei Michkov scored his first goal of the night on a pretty controversial call.

Michkov jammed his way into the Oilers crease, forcing Stuart Skinners pads backwards which resulted in the first tally of the night. It was blatant interference which never should have gone to video review in the first place.

The goal that Knoblauch is referring to in Vancouver happened just hours prior to the Oilers game. Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont had an extremely similar play where he jammed the puck along the goaltender's pads, and the goal was overturned for interference

Kris Knoblauch is not in the wrong for speaking out against these inconsistent goalie interference calls. One can't help to think how the early portion of the season could have gone differently for the Oilers if the referee's sorted out this huge grey area in the NHL.