ECHL officials are discussing the possibility of adding video review to the league, though cost could be an issue for some teams.
Unlike the NHL and AHL, both of which use instant replay, the ECHL does not have a procedure in place for video review. With more leagues requiring replay, the ECHL is looking into the issue and could discuss it in further detail during meetings this summer.
One of the biggest issues facing the league is cost. Officials are doubting that enough of the league’s teams are prepared to spend the money needed to upgrade systems to accommodate video review, which may prevent a policy from being finalized in the near future. More from the News-Sentinel:
“My argument has always been that we want to be considered the premier AA hockey league, but we don’t have instant replay,” [South Carolina Stingrays president Rob] Concannon said. “The bottom line is it’s time to get instant replay, but how do we do that?”
As chairman of the league’s rules committee, Concannon and ECHL Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst have been working for more than a year to study the possibility of the league adopting instant replay. They first presented a study at the ECHL’s summer meeting last year in Las Vegas, and again at the recent midseason meetings in Glens Falls, N.Y. Instant replay will again be on the agenda at this summer’s meetings, but neither Concannon or Ernst are optimistic replay will be accepted.
“The problem we have is some teams don’t want to spend $20,000-to-$25,000 on video replay,” Ernst said. “My personal opinion is that we’re not going to be able to do this. I don’t think there’s enough traction in the room of 27 teams we have. I don’t think we’re going to get it this summer, that’s just my thoughts, but I could be wrong. It will be the owners’ decisions. It’s their money. If they don’t want to do it, then we won’t do it.”
Should instant replay be added, the league has identified the Hawk-Eye video system–also used in the NHL–as a possible standard for each arena to follow, according to the News-Sentinel.
