I've about had it with the officials, but this isn't going to be a rant on the officials. I'm actually going to do something to try to eliminate the need to learn what a penalty looks like so that they can actually have an excuse for not knowing what diving looks like and certainly for embellishment.
Jordy Murray helped solidify my belief on this rule. The rule is as follows: A player who requires the assistance from any training or coaching personnel after the whistle has been blown shall be ruled "injured." This condition can be removed 2 minutes after the time the injury time out has been called should the player be deemed to be in playing condition by on-hand staff. Should the player be found on the ice before the 2 minutes has expired, a penalty for Embellishment minor penalty will be called and the player will serve it according to the normal penalty rules. EXCEPTION: This rule will not apply to injury timeouts called for goaltenders.
So, If Player A gets rocked by Player B and Player B and Player A lays on the ice for enough time for a whistle to be called to handle the injury (as the officials are trained to assume it is) and the trainers come out on the ice to see how injured the player is, that player is ruled ineligible to reenter play for 2 minutes after being helped off the ice.
It is no secret that the officials cannot reverse penalty calls. They can't decide to shorten a penalty time or eliminate a Game Misconduct call. However, they can penalize a player who is trying to slow down the game and draw a penalty for faking injury. If the injury isn't being faked, 2 minutes is a great time for medical staff to ensure no injury or ill effects are being felt by the player.
I cannot claim to be the originator of this rule. This rule is actually a Football rule. Funny... not a lot of diving in football because diving (in the context of faking injury) would mean that they'd have to sit out a play.
Enough is enough. I'm pissed at seeing a guy writhing or rolling around on the ice after a big hit, get medical attention, and then, after the "bad guy" goes off to the box or gets kicked out of the game, out he comes to play a shift on the powerplay.
If you're injured, by God, stay down and get help! If you're not injured, get up or get out of the game.
