Parker advocates video review, suspensions to curb diving in Hockey East

By Annie Maroon/DFP Staff

Earlier this week, Dan Schachte, the new Hockey East coordinator of officials, commented in a USCHO.com article about the problem of diving in Hockey East. He noted that handing out matching minors has done nothing to solve the problem, but also said suspending repeat offenders would be a tough rule to implement. Boston University head coach Jack Parker said it would be worth it.

Parker said he has long advocated having officials watch game film to review controversial plays after games, then hand out warnings followed by suspensions for divers.

“You can’t lie to the film,” Parker said. “You can’t dupe the eye in the sky … If we had a guy on my team that dove, and they came in to me and said, ‘here’s your warning, Coach, for your team – that’s an absolute dive, and the next guy that dives on your team that doesn’t get caught, he’s gonna sit out the next game’ – you know what’s going to happen? There’s not going to be anybody on that team that takes a dive. You know why? Because he knows he might be able to dupe the referee, because he’s done that for years, but he can’t dupe the eye in the sky.”

The NBA and NFL use similar processes to review video on controversial calls. Given the difficulty of identifying a dive immediately – after all, an effective dive makes it appear as though the player has been pushed or tripped in some way – Parker said he does not blame refs for struggling with the issue, but rather the league for not making changes.

“It’s obvious to me, to this point, that it’s the easiest way to get rid of diving in our league, and nationally, they have not considered that,” Parker said. “I guarantee you that nothing will stop it except what the professional leagues have done.”

Parker said he thinks two teams in Hockey East consistently take dives -- he would not specify which two -- and that he thinks it has been a problem in the conference for 20 years. He said because of the lack of punishment in the current system, not much has changed regarding the issue during those 20 years.

“Ninety percent of the time, if you dive, one of two things are going to happen,” Parker said. “Either there’s going to be a penalty on the other team, or there’s going to be a penalty on the other team and a penalty on me for embellishment. So the worst I get is even strength, and the best I get is a power play … so why not do it?

"It’s a very sore spot with me and I keep getting to the point where if they’re not calling it, I’m gonna teach my kids how to dive. I’m going to encourage it. We got a diving penalty the other night and there’s no question, that’s what he did. I was really upset with the player that did it. I think it should be out of the game."