>I would imagine that this rule eventually 'trickled down' (another thing from
>the mid-80's!) to college hockey rules committees ('hey, if it's good for the
>NHL, it's good enough for us :-) ), and they invoked it.  However, IMHO it is
>maybe up to the discretion (sp?) of the ref as to whether the teams skate
>5 on 5 or 4 on 4.
 
 
No, no, no, no, no. Please, if you don't know the rules, don't speculate.
 
Rule 4, Section 2e: When coincidental minor penalties (penalties assessed
during the same stoppage of play) are imposed against players of both
teams, the penalized players shall take their places on the penalty bench
and such penalized players shall not leave the penalty bench until the
first stoppage of play after the expiration of their respective penalties.
Immediate substitutions on ice shall be made for an equal number of minor
penalties or coincidental minor penalties of equal duration to each team so
penalized and the penalties of the players for whom substitutions have been
made shall not be taken into account for the purpose of a delyaed penalty
(see 4-8).
 
Since I don't know the specific situation that started this discussion, I
can't discuss whether or not the officials interpreted the rules correctly,
but based on my experience it is significantly more likely that the
officials made the correct interpretation and the observer questioning the
interpretation erred than vice versa.