Is it time for video replays to come under further review?

In the wake of FSN Pittsburgh this week placing a veteran hockey producer on indefinite suspension for failing to provide all video available for an NHL replay review, one former league boss expects its leadership to revisit the process ... and perhaps rectify it.

"I do think the league has to put out a directive, a memo, on what should or shouldn't happen," said John Shannon, a SportsNet television analyst in Canada and for the previous 3 1/2 years the NHL's executive vice president of television and programming. "I think that will come in the week to 10 days. The guys in New York are trying to write something effective. Something needs to happen. Really, the fact that it has become such a public issue, the league can learn from it and improve their situation."

Mr. Shannon was in charge of the installation of high-definition cameras above each goal in the 30 NHL arenas and the intercom system connecting the on-site goal judge with the league's replay officials in their Toronto headquarters, where reviews were moved in 2003 after their 1999 launch. These cameras are owned, operated and maintained by the NHL as a move to protect the game's integrity, but the eyes in Toronto see those shots only when shown on the live television feed.

Some media reported the controversy over the Penguins-Flyers telecast last Thursday stemmed from an overhead shot that wasn't shown on FSN Pittsburgh's telecast, which was monitored by the "situation room" in Toronto. However, Mr. Shannon disputed that notion -- the on-site goal judge has first access to that overhead view and could easily explain it to Toronto.

In the past, though, Mr. Shannon said league authorities in Toronto have telephoned regional-network production trucks in arenas and demanded they broadcast all available video: "Hey, what's going on? Have you given us all the replays?" Those officials, he said, see the same broadcasts as home viewers, hence they've held up games to view replays on the TV feed.

Last Thursday, Lowell MacDonald Jr., 45, the son of former Penguin Lowell MacDonald, aired a more-definitive video after the review. The replay, apparently showing Penguins goaltender Brent Johnson reaching over the goal line to cover a Simon Gagne shot, was shown several seconds after the formal ruling of no goal from officials in Toronto. Under league rules, a review cannot be overturned once play resumes. The Flyers won the game anyway.

Mr. Shannon, among others around the league and its broadcasters, couldn't remember when a TV person was involved in a similar incident. Penguins and FSN Pittsburgh officials issued statements Tuesday, the latter announcing the suspension and calling the incident "unacceptable," but both declined further comment yesterday.

"I feel badly for Lowell," Mr. Shannon said. "Lowell is a really good producer. He's a good person, he's a hockey person. I can assure you ... there are [Penguins officials, among others, who are] very upset. The franchise doesn't want to be held in that light, that they want to be seen as changing games. I think we're all surprised.

"The one challenge is that in live sports, you have to make snap judgements. We've all made great decisions in our time, and we've all made bad ones. Some affect the games more than others. What we don't want to do is to be in a position that what television is doing is actually affecting the outcome. Because [TV is] there to be at the event, not be the event."

Mr. MacDonald could not be reached.

One sports-media executive yesterday expected the NHL -- and perhaps others -- to re-examine how each handles video replays.

"I'm sure in the coming broadcast meetings, this will be on the agenda," he said of the annual, preseason get-togethers between league officials and broadcast entities. That stands in opposition to recent history, when the NHL the past three or four years hasn't discussed replay reviews at broadcast meetings that he attended.

"It's clearly a league initiative," this executive said of these programs. "They come to us and say, 'This is what we're doing.' The networks haven't had very much input."

And the two leagues with little issue about replay seem to be the NFL and the NBA, said this executive, who doesn't work for Fox but requested anonymity.

The NFL, which reviews myriad possession and clock issues on site, has the benefit of national networks televising every game with multiple cameras, sometimes dozens.

The NBA performs on-site reviews, though like the NHL most often must rely upon local broadcasters with whom teams have contracts. In some cases, where teams own their broadcast rights, the producer charged with airing videos for that league's replay officials to review is in essence a team employee. Several people across the sports spectrum yesterday wondered if the processes were flawed: leaving the videos in the hands of a non-league official, having such reviews -- in the cases of hockey and baseball -- reviewed in Toronto or New York so far removed from the arena.

In the NHL and MLB, the review facilities "are off site and there's no communication between them and the [television-]production facility. It's up to the broadcaster to give up as many angles and [all the] evidence you have," this executive said. Meanwhile, the NBA is "incredibly detailed and pointed" and is in "direct contact" with the production people at that game, with its game officials making the decision rather than league representatives hundreds of miles away."

Mr. Shannon demurred about the NHL, which placed the onus on officials in Toronto in 2003: "The guy in the booth [at the game] may actually have more angles than are available in Toronto. But that person is a part-time guy. He doesn't have the experience of watching 1,200 games [a season]. Kicking motions, placement of hands on sticks -- quite honestly, the guys in Toronto do a phenomenal job. And when something like this comes up, they lose lots of sleep. It drives them nuts that they can't do the job properly."

In the case of the Penguins-Flyers game, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia's crew at Mellon Arena didn't have access to the definitive-angle camera shot that FSN Pittsburgh had, though it didn't matter. NHL officials in Toronto could only get the FSN Pittsburgh feed via satellite.

Camera placement is another hurdle. As one longtime production-truck worker from Pittsburgh noted, placements "can vary by facilities: The Kansas City Royals use five cameras, the New York Yankees use nine to 12 cameras," so there are more possibilities for replays. Moreover, he added, "The local telecasts don't have the same resources as the national telecasts."

The NFL started its replay reviews on a limited basis in 1986, but went full bore in '99. The NBA opted for it in 2002, but continues to make tweaks, as it did this season. MLB launched its in August 2008 for balls hit into what it terms "boundary calls," fair or foul.

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