NHl Rule Changes

[Tanner23 0]

i personally dont like the rule changes because i loved the game before all this lock out crap

[Adam91 0]

The Torpedo was first implemented in Sweeden as an offensive system, it slowly worked its way to be a defensive system and then after a few minor tweaks, has come to be known as our "trap" or 'left wing lock". Or at least thats how I've seen the transformation go.

Yes thats correct. I'm sure it was supposed to create offence by creating turnovers in the neutral zone and coming into the offensive zone with speed

[Chadd 916]

Needs to happen

5. Single referee - The second ref is supposed to call obstruction, but that hasn't worked, so get rid of another body on the ice. Maybe allow linesman to make obstruction calls or something.

Wouldn't want to see

2. Goalies not allowed to play puck - If a goalie has honed that skill, I don't see why they shouldn't be able to play the puck. Teams would just change their dump-ins if goalies couldn't play the puck as seen in the AHL.

If you've watched AHL games this year, you should have seen how bad the single ref system is at the pro level. There are several situations that happen every game that the single referee never sees that significantly impact the flow and momentum of the game. Rewarding the dirtier team should never be an option at the NHL level.

I like the way the AHL handled the goalies playing the puck. They can play it in front of the goal line or behind the net in the designated area. It prevents a goalie who can pass the puck from going into the corner and waiting for a forechecker to commit so he can dump it out of the zone. If the forechecker is in the offensive zone, his team can't attack until he clears. If there is no forechecker, the game slows down even more.

[ktang 34]

The Torpedo was first implemented in Sweeden as an offensive system, it slowly worked its way to be a defensive system and then after a few minor tweaks, has come to be known as our "trap" or 'left wing lock". Or at least thats how I've seen the transformation go.

Yes thats correct. I'm sure it was supposed to create offence by creating turnovers in the neutral zone and coming into the offensive zone with speed

Here are some links to the Swedish Torpedo system.

Opinion and explanation about Torpedo

How the torpedo is supposed to work

I think it was the weak-side lock that begat the trap and the left wing lock, and the Torpedo was meant to be a way to counteract these defensive schemes.

[hip check 0]

My two cents worth...

Gotta have:

No touch icing

Icing on penalty kill - why give 'em a free pass? I thought it was a penalty?

Smaller goalie equipment

Free curve limit - if you can make it work for you, go for it.

Slightly smaller goalie puck-playing zone behind the net, from what the AHL had

Fat blue lines - even wider than the AHL tested with, make them 4' wide!

Don't want:

Bowman / Sinden ideas, respected hockey guys but...

Bigger nets, and wider uprights in the NFL for all the sucky kickers!

Single ref, two can still work

Ties - gotta be a winner, so to avoid 'all-nighter, defensive-struggle' games - shoot-out

[ktang 34]

Bowman had another idea that is intriguing; have a designated ref for calling obstruction in the neutral zone. That way there would be consistency in those calls, and there would be more flow.

I think that it would still be a 2-ref system, but the other ref would go goal-line to goal-line, as in a single-ref system.

[Chadd 916]

I don't like that at all. What if the other ref sees the penalty and the "interference" ref is screened? I still think having the 2 refs and 2 linesmen work as a team all season is the best way to get everyone on the same page without making huge changes. The best 4 man units should get all-star and playoff assignments. Assigning a supervisor to watch or review every game would ensure that the guys are calling what they are supposed to call.

[ktang 34]

To me, if the "interference" ref is screened, that would just be a part of the game.

I think that, even in the existing 2-ref system, if the back-side ref saw something that is in the on-the-play ref's area of responsibility that was missed, the back-side ref would not make the call out of respect for the other ref.

The idea is that interference is so subjective that consistency would be achievable only with one person making the calls (like in the 1-ref system).

In the existing 2-ref and single-ref systems the linesmen see a lot of infractions that the ref(s) can't see, but they don't make these calls because it isn't their job. So, in the Bowman system, the Neutral Zone ref would have a certain set of calls in a certain zone.

Way back when there was NHL hockey to be seen, it looked to me like the ref pairings were set (same pairs?); or am I wrong about that? Anyways, if they had set pairings, they were still inconsistent after a full season of working together.

It's interesting also that the NHL referee coordinator wasn't part of these rules experiments. They are trying to re-introduce flow into the game, and uncalled obstruction is one of the impediments to that. GMs and coaches don't have the perspective that the refs would have.

[Chadd 916]

To the best of my knowledge they pairs were not set in stone and varied quite a bit. I also think you have to look at who is being paired together. You can't have two guys with different styles paired, that was the problem before. If you have two guys who are by the book or two guys who are pretty loose paired together, you know what to expect. I also think you need to have one guy designated the "crew chief" as in MLB who takes responsibility for resolving problems.

I just don't like the idea of handcuffing one ref and not letting him call what he sees. There is too much dirty shit going on behind the play for one man to manage a game.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

I still think making the rinks bigger would be the best idea, take out a couple rows of seats. This would make the game more exciting and give our favourite offensive players more room to dangle. Think european style/north american style, lots of dangles with bodies being throwin around.