So You Want To Be An NHL Linesman

[DarkStar50 679]

I just got done talking to Pat Dapuzzo about the first week in the league. He says the game has picked up alot of speed through center ice. The problem for linesmen is that the wingers are carrying the puck more along the wall and this spells trouble if you are an NHL linesman. He said that already 3 linesmen have been conked in the head by pucks along the wall that they had no chance of getting out of the way on. He says guys are hitting the blueline at higher speeds now without all the clutching, hooking, and grabbing of 2 years ago. The calls are tougher and tighter. It will be interesting to watch going forward.

[ktang 34]

I saw a couple of those incidents in the game that I watched... I wonder if linesmen could become off-ice officials (for the bluelines, to start), or would that cause even more problems?

Of course, if there are no linesmen, the refs will have nobody to break up the fights...

[Sven 1]

DarkStar, the first thing which came to mind was: "BOOM! HEADSHOT!" ^_^