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BOG Approves Rule Changes
by Paul on 06/18/08 at 05:11 PM ET
Comments (13)
NEW YORK (June 18, 2008) --
The Board also endorsed rules changes that had been recommended by the NHL General Managers and approved by the Competition Committee:
A change to Rule 76.2 ("Face-Offs") will place the first face-off of a power play in the defending zone of the team that committed the foul.
A change to Rule 81.1 ("Icing") states that “Any contact between opposing players while pursuing the puck on an icing must be for the sole purpose of playing the puck and not for eliminating the opponent from playing the puck. Unnecessary or dangerous contact could result in penalties being assessed to the offending player.”
change to Rule 85.5 ("Face-Off Location") provides that if a puck is shot off the goal frame, goal post or crossbar, the subsequent face-off will remain in the end zone where the puck went out of play.
Further, the Board endorsed immediate and long-term recommendations forwarded by the Goaltender Equipment Working Group and approved by the Competition Committee. Using the guiding principles that: (1) Goaltender equipment should not be any larger than it needs to be to provide adequate protection and (2) should be proportionate to the size of the goaltender, the Working Group will work aggressively with the goalies and manufacturers toward developing standards for the maximum size of all equipment that each individual can wear.
The Board also voted to increase significantly its funding of USA Hockey programs, in particular the National Team Development Program, and voted to create a committee to oversee that expenditure.
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Comments
anonymous, it is my understanding these rule changes will be in place for the start of the new season.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 06/18/08 at 05:33 PM ET
Not a big fan of the automatic defensive zone faceoff after a penalty.
Posted by KP on 06/18/08 at 05:39 PM ET
Was modifying the Instigator from 3 to 5 on the table? I wasn’t sure if that was up for change or not.
Posted by rjman48 from Royal Oak on 06/18/08 at 05:48 PM ET
I’m a big fan of the automatic defensive zone faceoff after a penalty, after watching it for 80+ games in the AHL season. Good to see this one accepted.
Posted by WK from Chicago on 06/18/08 at 06:03 PM ET
It sounds like Mickey Redmond will be one happy man thanks to rule changes #1 and #3. I like the idea of the automatic offensive zone faceoff for the team that draws a power play.
I’m not sure whether the goaltending equipment group will be able to impose a cut-and-dry sizing limit on each and every goalie, but they will get rid of the squared-off chest protector pads, the “shoulder wings” that are designed to do nothing more than stop the puck, and “landing gear” on leg pads that has nothing to do with shielding a goaltender’s leg and everything with sealing the ice.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 06/18/08 at 06:04 PM ET
The face-off rules make an awful lot of sense - and yet they got agreed to anyway. How did that happen? 
It’ll be interesting to see how they work out the rules for goaltending equipment. I’m not surprised they need to study that set of rules - it will take a little time to do it correctly.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/18/08 at 06:08 PM ET
I’ve heard that it’s gonna take a year or so before the Goaltending Equipment Working Group (or, if you live in acronym land, the GEWG) will bring its recommendations to the Board of Governors (or, if you’re from reality land, the BoG)…
As I like to say, if you put a blind man in a field, give him a brush and enough paint, he might eventually hit the side of a barn, and that’s what the BoG seems to have done in terms of these rather...logical...faceoff rules.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 06/18/08 at 06:18 PM ET
The BOG misses yet another opportunity to modify the instigator and give the fans AND THE PLAYERS what they want. It’s amazing how this slips through their cracks every year. Of course that is what happens when you send non-hockey guys to make and modify hockey rules.
Posted by Sig from DC on 06/18/08 at 06:24 PM ET
It’s not going to happen as long as Bettman’s commissioner, and I don’t think that he could get 20 out of 30 GM’s to agree to drop the instigator altogether, either.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 06/18/08 at 08:46 PM ET
Oversized landing gear is not needed, but try going into butterfly, going down hard, and just smashing your shin into the ice. Padding is needed there. It’s also good for when you’ve got the half-butterfly on the post, exposing the inside of the leg to a quick one-timer off a pass from behind the net.
While I don’t support the springloaded shoulder pads J. S. Giguere uses so well, I do think it’s a bit sad that goalie equipment has to be proportional to the goalie. I’d love it if there was a standard, variable area that was meant for pure protection, but wouldn’t force a 5’11 goalie like Turco to have shorter pads than a 6’3 goalie like Luongo. Otherwise it’ll be a straightforward advantage. Sure, I won’t be better than Turco, even using pads meant for a Chara-sized goalie, but the base handicap against is still there.
Posted by SENShobo from Waterloo, ON on 06/18/08 at 10:02 PM ET
1. I don’t have a problem with this, though I think the over-under on the number of Coach’s Corners before this gets complained about is 2. Basically, the first time the Leafs give up a PPG off the faceoff.
2. Basically a re-iteration of the Interference rule. Nothing to see here.
3. A perfectly fine idea. I don’t foresee any complaining about this one, either.
As for the goalie pads...I’m not touching that one with a ten-foot pole. I’ve been scolded by my goalie friends enough as it is.
Posted by Doogie2K from Calgary on 06/18/08 at 10:19 PM ET
I am a goalie and I am all for basing the size of the equipment to the goalie. Anything else is cheating.
Posted by moore00 from Grand Rapids on 06/18/08 at 11:44 PM ET
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Are these officially in the book now, or do they need another level of approval?
Either way, they’re some interesting proposals.
Posted by anonymous from somewhere on 06/18/08 at 05:29 PM ET