Goal Judge

Goal Judge is an individual whose task is to review disputed goals during a hockey game and to decide whether those goals should be allowed to count or not. A goal judge is also known as a “video goal judge” because the goal judge will use video replays to decide whether or not to allow a goal.

When a disputed goal is scored on the ice and the referees and linesmen are unsure whether to count it or not, one of the referees on the ice will ask for the play to be reviewed by the goal judge. To do so, the referee will call the goal judge using a telephone located at the scorekeepers bench (which is between the two penalty benches).

The goal judge, who sits in a press box above the ice surface, will look at video replays of the play to decide whether the disputed goal should be counted. If the goal judge cannot come to a decision, he will then call the NHL offices in Toronto to get help on the decision. Once a decision is made, the goal judge will inform the referee of that decision, and the referee will inform the public address announcer who will let the spectators know of the decision. After every game, the goal judge must file a report of all video reviews that took place during the game to the NHL offices in Toronto.

Situations in which the goal judge is needed include: to make sure that the puck crossed the line, to verify if the puck was struck illegally (like with a high stick, or if it was kicked or thrown into the net) or not, if the puck crossed the goal line before the net was displaced, or if there was enough time or not remaining in the period when the puck crossed the goal line.