Quote:Written Task: What do you think of embellishment calls and diving in the NHL? Do you think they're called too much? Not enough? Is it a necessary evil to make sure the referee actually sees that something happened? Even if it wasn't that bad? Do you think there are players with deserved reputations for diving? Maybe undeserved reputations? (150+ words)

Embellishment is one of, if not THE most annoying penalty called in modern-day hockey. Embellishment is almost always called alongside an actual penalty like tripping or high sticking. The spirit of the rule makes sense, the NHL wants to avoid hockey players falling into the same stereotype that professional soccer players fall into. However, the actual enforcement of the rule is ridiculous in my opinion. If a player embellishes a penalty, that's it, its just embellishment. If they don't embellish, the play was a penalty. Very, very rarely is the play ever both penalties at the same time. Despite this, embellishment is the only penalty in which it is called alongside another penalty (excluding fighting and misconducts). Why is this penalty almost exclusively called alongside the everyday penalties? Why do we never see it called on its own? Because it is a stupid penalty and unless the enforcement of it changes, we would almost be better off without it at all.