32.2 Disputes - The Referees shall have general supervision of the game and shall have full control of all game officials and players during the game, including stoppages; and in case of any dispute, their decision shall be final.

As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening.

In the event of any dispute regarding time or the expiration of penalties, the matter shall be referred to the Referee for adjustment and his decision shall be final. He may use the Video Goal Judge to assist in rendering the final decision. See Rule 39 – Video Goal Judge.

Being a referee as you know, I wanted to put my two cents in and try to explain the logic in the rule. Hockey is an extremely fast sport and things happen in a split second and that is what the rule is designed for. There are several reasons why you need this rule and I will give you a couple of examples. The whistle could of been defective, laugh all you want but that cork ball inside the whistle can freeze, preventing the whistle from working properly. The Referee could of gotten bumped or obstructed while lifting his arm to blow the whistle. Another thing that may of happened was that he was distracted by an altercation in front of the net. Amongst other things, those are some examples.

My only beef with the two situations is that they had different outcomes, making the rule inconsistent. In the Kings/Rangers game, the referee let the replay booth dictate the call when ultimately he has the final say. The crew on Wednesday night in the Detroit/Dallas game got it right, the replay booth told LaRue it was a goal and he explained that his intent was to blow the whistle. By LaRue stating his actions as he did, that voids the replay as his call was the play was dead before the puck crossed the line.