Article Archive #16 - Rule Changes

This post originally appeared on Hockey Jersey Concepts on May 6th, 2016.

Triple overtime, woohoo!!!  The Predators and Sharks put on quite the show last night, five and a half periods of classic playoff hockey.  I just love long overtime games.  Some people have suggested rule changes (like four on four) to make playoff overtimes shorter, but those people are completely crazy in my opinion.

Speaking of rule changes, there are a few NHL rules I'm not a fan of, so today I'm going to discuss what I would change if I were in charge of the NHL.

(Photo by Paul Sakuma/AP) via The Pink Puck

My first order of business would be to remove the trapezoid.  Goalies should be free to play the puck wherever they want, why should the corners off limits?  If a goalie is good at playing the puck he could create offence for his team by moving the puck up ice, and if a goalie is bad at playing the puck it could lead to chances for the other team.  Removing the trapezoid would also encourage teams to hold on to the puck more, instead of playing dump and chase hockey.  I don't think the trapezoid has any benefits.

If I were in charge I'd also remove the automatic penalty for shooting a puck over the glass.  With this rule in place no player ever purposely shoots the puck over the glass, and I don't think we should be punishing players for accidentally clearing the puck.  Instead of an automatic penalty, it should be a discretionary call.  If the play was clearly an accident (e.g. the puck was bouncing and the player wasn't under pressure) the referee wouldn't call a penalty, but if it may have been on purpose a penalty would be called.  Nothing frustrates me more than seeing this unnecessary penalty influence the result of a game.

(Photo by Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press) via CBC

I also don't like the newly introduced offside challenges.  Linesman are accurate enough, nearly every time a goal is overturned the player was only offside by an inch or two.  The challenges also slow the game down, often they last more than five minutes which takes away any momentum a team might have had.  If the NHL wants to keep these challenges, they should change the rule so that if a team loses a challenge they get a minor penalty.  That way only the obvious offside goals would be challenged.

Those are the three rules I would change, feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comments.