Bettman and Lou on Mike & MD

[NYR469]

Forgive me if this sounds naive because I play more hockey than I write about it but doesn't it seem that the trapping defenseman has an advantage from the two-line pass rule in that the offense is limited in who they can pass to as they come up the ice and that eliminating that restriction should make it harder to trap because now they have to cover the guys who are sneaking behind them rather than just pinching the play?

How's that for a run-on sentence?

In short: I can't see how more options for the offense helps the defense. Please help me understand. Thanks.

in theory use it should spread the defensive team out cause they have to cover more area...but reality is that european leagues already have no redline and they trap worse then the nhl. so you can't trap the same way, but the euro teams have proven that you can motify the trap and still use it...

in fact i've heard that in finland they petitioned to the IIHF to put the redline back because they have allowed two line passes for the last 10 years and there has been zero improvement based on the above theory so whats the point.

 

[Otter]

Bummer. It seems to defy logic.

I saw a quote from Roenick that agreed with me ....."Some people think that the defense will simply back up to the other blue line. But even if you do that, you will allow the offensive team to come through neutral ice with speed. That's what we want - more speed, more breakaways, more two-on-one rushes." but he has proven to senseless nearly as often as I have. Oh well. I like the game as is anyway.